


Tsutsudori

by emmykay



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Drama, F/M, Gen, Other, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-04
Updated: 2011-04-04
Packaged: 2017-10-23 22:00:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 40,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/255466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/emmykay/pseuds/emmykay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A dream of a bird and a snake leads to a journey that uncovers great secrets of the powerful Hyuuga clan. AU Feudal-era Japan. Potential character death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Claimer/Author: This story is written by and belongs to Emmy Kay.
> 
> Disclaimer: Naruto and all affiliated characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This story is written without permission and for personal/fan/nonprofit entertainment purposes only.
> 
> Personal note: This started out as a character study of Sasuke for my multi-chap fics, but evolved into something else entirely. Inspired by the the 6th closing from shippuden (of Sasuke vs Naruto dressed as feudal era samurai). "Broken Youth" by Nico Touches the Walls - have no idea what is written on the screen as the "pictures" of Naruto and Sasuke are panned across on screen (if anyone knows or wants to share, I'd love you forever).

If we are to meet

cuckoo, in this way - come, then,

let us compare tears,

for I, also, like yourself,

cry constantly in this cruel world.

\- Former Imperial Lady Kenreimon'in from the Tale of the Heike

  


* * *

She dreamed.

A snake lay, sunning itself on a rock, amidst the dappled shadows at the base of a great red cedar. It raised its head slowly, taking in something new in its surroundings.

Nearby, a small grey and black bird hopped closer and closer to a large puddle of clear water, unaware of the danger in its environs. The snake slowly moved closer, its forked tongue testing the air, tasting it. The bird cocked its small head to one side, listening.

The snake halted, becoming as still as the stone it had so recently occupied. Sensing no danger, the bird shook itself and continued on its way. And suddenly, suddenly, the snake was looming over the bird, cold dark eyes reflecting the meal in front of it. The bird looked up, seeing only the sunlight beaming green-gold down through the dense forest canopy.

The nun awoke, the images following her into consciousness. She wondered how the dream would end. Would the bird survive? Or be engulfed by the snake?

Kurenai looked out of her simple thatched hut to the unfinished grey and white castle that sat far uphill, a series of rough masonry walls indicating a hurried completion marring the image projected by the polished stone. Some called it haunted. Others had called it cursed by the one who had designed it and had died defending it. What was it about this dream that made her think of the ancient family within those great stone walls?

* * *

"Hinata!" Who's voice was that? That didn't sound like Sakura or Karin, her attendants.

 _Mother?_

"Hinata!"

 _Is that you, Mother? Or is it only a dream?  
_

Like a current of silk trailing into the night, she heard, or thought she heard, _"A dream is nothing unless acted upon. Only then it becomes something real."_

"Lady, you must wake up!"

Hinata stirred, shaking her head, not wanting to leave the comforting voice in the darkness.

" _You must be brave. Be strong. You must believe."_

She didn't want to return to the light and all the pain and sorrow that came with it. She didn't want to return to the loneliness, or the endless spasms that racked her frail body.

" _You are not alone."_ It was a mere filament of thought, lost in the urgency of outside voices.

"Hinata!" A woman called, urgent and commanding, pulled her from the timeless, dreamless place.

Groaning, Hinata opened her eyes to take in a stranger's face with red-rimmed eyes, one that seemed very maternal for all its youth, lines of exhaustion fading into a small, warm smile.

"She's awake!" cried Sakura, happily, seemingly from a long, long distance away, her green eyes brimming with relieved tears. "If it weren't for you, Kurenai, I don't know what we would have done."

"Wait till I tell your brother, lady," exclaimed Karin, eyes gleaming as she hurried out of the darkened room.

"How long?" Hinata wondered, almost to herself. _How long this time?_

"You were delirious for almost two whole days," replied Kurenai, soberly.

* * *

A fortnight later, still weak but gaining strength, Hinata's long black hair was dressed and anointed with delicate oils by Karin and Sakura, her pale skin massaged and patted with rice powder as if she were a living doll.

"It is time," Kurenai announced, watching her patient with a sharp eye.

"What is it?" Sakura asked, eager to learn whatever this healer was able to teach.

"I can't do any more for you, Lady Hinata. It is time to go to Konoha," she announced.

They had begun to pack over the objections of Hinata's brother. As the only living young male member of the family, Sasuke took his duties very seriously. He had taken on responsibility for the ancestral lands while their grandfather, father and youngest sister were at court, attending to the various duties required of a materially-favored, well-born family that wished to remain so.

"Sister," said Sasuke to Hinata, his pale face tight with condemnation. "I fear you won't be able to make the journey. It is so far into the great forests. You should stay here."

Karin had stopped moving, glancing back and forth between the siblings, in her hands a half-folded kosode.

"I must go," Hinata said nervously, eyes cast to the floor.

"What will you do if the sickness returns? You know it always does." Sasuke reminded her. "You have always been weak."

She tried to reassure him. "Brother, I will have Kurenai with me. And Sakura and Karin."

"Your mother had the same sickness. Even Kurenai can not know what will happen."

Hinata merely shook her head, unable or unwilling to argue. She herself did not know which, only that the effort would take too much from her. When it seemed Sasuke would press his objections, Hinata looked pleadingly at Kurenai, who was sitting near a window, looking over a large scroll.

Sasuke drew closer to the young nun, almost standing over her calmly seated position, his own hands fisted at his waist. "But why there? Why not have another healer come here?"

"I had a dream," Kurenai said softly, her posture like steel. "With a great red cedar tree and a healing lake - Konoha is the only place like that. There is a famous healer there that I need to consult."

Sasuke backed off, looking aggrieved.

"Well, I guess we're still packing?" queried Sakura, looking at Karin, her voice deliberately light.

Slowly, Hinata nodded.

* * *

Hinata grunted in exertion, attempting to propel herself along with a walking stick. Besides her own pained exhalations, the only sounds were the slow tapping of the wooden cane on the eternally creaky wooden floors of the castle. She was glad she was alone. Having any of the Hyuuga retainers, even those distantly related, see her in this state would have been humiliating.

She paused, out of breath, sweat beading unpleasantly on her forehead and upper lip. She had been bed-ridden for so long, even the smallest acts, like walking down a short hall, was taxing. She started to shake with exhaustion. As she took another step, her legs collapsed under her. She tried to climb back up, clutching the stick for support, but it slid out from under her hand, dropping her to the floor.

Hinata was angry with herself for being unable to do more, work harder, for being so weak. She had dreamed of becoming healthy, so healthy that she would never need support again. She had dreamed, fantastically, daringly, of travel, of marriage, even children. It all seemed beyond impossible now. She flung the stick down, wanting to cry out in frustration. It rolled away down the corridor, far out of reach, coming to rest against the dead end of the corridor, where the raw-looking stonework had been hastily erected after the architect had died.

After a moment's disbelief, she huffed out a rueful laugh. Let that be a lesson, she lectured herself, giving into that tantrum had done nothing but make things worse. Now, she not only had to get back to her rooms, she had to get the stick which made it possible - without a single person to help her. Sighing resignedly, she placed both hands on the floor so she could begin crawling. A chill, ghostly sensation caused the hairs to prickle at the back of her neck. Something felt odd, sounded oddly still. Swiftly, Hinata looked up.

Sasuke had been standing right near her, watching, so quiet that she had not even noticed.

Hinata squeaked and jerked backward in reaction. "Brother!" she cried, "you surprised me!"

"Hinata - you are not ready to go." He walked over to the stick and picked it up. He turned it slowly over in his hands, his deftness making Hinata uncomfortably aware of her vulnerability.

Slowly, she shook her head. "I do not want to argue."

"Then just listen. The roads are dangerous, full of bandits and thieves."

"I will take a large cortege with me, don't worry - "

"Listen," he interrupted. "Can you do it without drawing power away from the castle' defenses? We're down manpower as it is, and the walls are only half-built - "

"I will take just enough," Hinata said, catching sight of someone at the end of the corridor.

Sasuke also turned his head, as Sakura and Karin halted just outside of earshot of the siblings. "You won't have any of the luxuries you're used to," he warned.

The sight of her handmaidens, hovering indecisively between the indiscretion of intervention and the discretion of silence, was enough for Hinata to fake a confidence she didn't feel. "Brother, I will be fine."

He sighed. "I'm sorry to hear that." A rare smile broke through Sasuke's face. He reached out and affectionately tapped her forehead. "If you are foolish enough to go, I shall have to go with you to make sure you are safe." He passed her the walking stick. "I'll have the ox-cart prepared. You don't have the strength to go by foot."

As Karin hurried to Hinata's side, Sakura sighed in relief as Sasuke walked by, her hands clasped longingly over her heart.

* * *

After several days on the road, the routine was ingrained. As they slowed down by the evening's inn, Sakura got ready to jump out and prepare Hinata's room, Karin close behind, as they had done every night. But tonight, Sakura halted, her eyes wide.

"What're you stopping for?" fretted Karin.

"Something is not right," replied Sakura, pressing her ear against the opening of the door.

Sasuke, who had been riding ahead of the small group of wagons, was heard challenging someone. The person answered back, loudly, without any of the deference suitable to someone of Sasuke's status.

"Go look," Karin prodded.

"No!" shot back Sakura. "It's not proper!"

"Don't you care what happens to our Lord Sasuke?"

"Of course I care! More than you! But it's still not right!"

While the two squabbled over the merits of looking, Hinata quietly parted the heavy curtains and peered out.

A lone figure in a coarse brown robe, with a half-mask of a fox perched on top of an unruly mess of yellow hair, stood facing Sasuke in the middle of the courtyard. "What makes you think you're better than me - huh?" he argued, hotly.

"I don't have time for you," Sasuke returned, frigidly, staring down from horseback. "Get out of the way or get run over."

The two men faced each other, bristling with hostility. The yellow-hair clenched a bo tightly a raw-boned fist, gesturing angrily. Sasuke's hand remained within the vicinity of his sword, drifting closer and closer to the handle while he argued. Some of the Hyuuga samurai started to pay attention, taking defensive poses along the periphery.

"Jiraiya at your service, my lord," interjected an older man, sliding between the two combatants with the oiled grace and poise of a long-time courtier. He bowed deeply, diffident, yet still managing to show off a great head of white hair and extravagantly multi-colored robes patched with even brighter swatches of fabric. He nudged the younger man off to the side, "This is Naruto Uzumaki, my very young apprentice."

Naruto grudgingly dipped his head.

"We were in the middle of our performance. You'll have to forgive us, we actors are highly sensitive -"

Sasuke looked unhappy, but before he could do anything, the innkeeper came out, full of apologies, ready to whisk the fine gentleman away to the rooms which he had just prepared.

* * *

The arrogant lord was heading inside the inn, flanked by the unctuous innkeeper. Naruto snorted. Jerk. He'd be glad to see the last of that one. He just wanted to fulfill his obligation to his master by getting him to the best healer in the country. Even if it meant getting into a fight every night with bastards like that.

He looked down; the collection bowl had barely begun to its job when the disagreement began, scattering the hope for any more possible income for the night. He stooped, picked it up and dumped the meager contents of the bowl into his palm. One more bad night.

A sound too close for comfort startled him into looking up. Naruto stepped back awkwardly, nearly run over by a massive ox-cart wheel. As he angrily opened his mouth to curse it, the driver who put it in his way, and the driver's forebearers, he saw a slender white hand parting the curtains - and a pale girl's face looking out inquiringly. Large grey-grey eyes turned towards him and looked at him. His breath stopped. Although he had never experienced or seen anything like it, he recognized the sensation from some place deep within. It was as if the moon itself shone down on him and him alone.

"Lady Hinata, what is it you see?" a voice asked.

The spell was broken; the light turned back into a pale, tired-looking girl with long dark hair who turned to the inside of the carriage, saying, "Nothing, Karin. Nothing." The curtain dropped and she disappeared.

Naruto shook his head, wondering why he suddenly felt dizzy.

* * *

They were seated in a room upstairs, overlooking a small plot of greenery. The highest quality room of the inn, the proprietor pronounced. Quality rooms for quality guests, he said repeatedly. The food was served, and the waitstaff withdrew, gawping at the fineness of the group.

It was only then that Sasuke made a moue of disgust at what he obviously considered coarse, peasant fare.

Hinata found the food interesting, being so different from the invalid pablum she had had to endure so recently.

"I wish Neji were here. He always liked traveling," she said softly, thinking of her cousin, the last close male heir in the family. Neji was an undisputed genius, a planner, a thinker, someone who knew what to do in any situation. He had spoken of someday completing his father's last great work - Hyuuga Castle. But Neji had died, terribly, far out in the northern provinces, putting down a rebellion for the Emperor over two years ago. With him had died the plans for his father's legacy.

Belatedly remembering that Sasuke had been wounded there, Hinata hastily added, "I am glad you are here with us, Brother." Her eyes flicked over to Karin and Sakura, warming up her face. "I'm sure others are glad you are here also."

Sasuke did not smile back. "Hn." He got up abruptly, nearly spilling a cup of tea on the table in his haste. "I must see to the horses."

Hinata reddened in embarrassment. It had been years since she had said the right thing to Sasuke. She sighed inwardly, something mirrored outwardly by Sakura and Karin.

The food, so recently attractive, suddenly seemed unappetizing. Hinata glanced away, then out the window, down onto the small garden. There, propped up against a tree was the older man in the brightly colored suit from the altercation with Sasuke earlier today. She watched as the young blond man brought out a small bowl and presented it to the older man. If she concentrated, she could listen in on their conversation.

"Look at all the rice I bought," Naruto said, his voice falsely hopeful.

"Looks good. You eat it," Jiraiya grunted.

"No, I'm not hungry," he denied, sounding obviously dishonest. "Something about that guy today has taken away my appetite."

"I'm not hungry either. Somebody should eat it before it gets cold."

"You are my master - you should."

"You are still growing, my boy." It was clear that this conversation had been shined and polished through many repetitions.

" _You_ are still unwell," Naruto urged. "I'll see if I can trade work for food tomorrow. I'll find something."

"I'll get something later."

"Eat this now, before you get any sicker."

Sakura's high voice carried directly to Hinata. "I wonder what Lady Hinata is looking at that is so interesting."

Hinata turned towards her small retinue, an idea at the tip of her tongue.

* * *

Sakura walked out to the two men, geta visible under her silk skirts, lifted high to avoid the mud in the courtyard. "Kind sirs," she said, "My lady Hinata requests the pleasure of your company for this evening." Her own expression indicated no such joy.

"What?" asked Naruto, his face blank, uncomprehending.

"Well, yes, of course she would," Jiraiya preened. He turned towards Naruto, nudging him with the end of his walking stick as he rose. "Come on, kid, we've got dinner for tonight."

They followed the pink-haired girl, Jiraiya leaning heavily on his stick as the two men entered the room. Jiraiya knew instantly who was to be the star attraction as he settled into his seat. As additional food and drink was ordered, delivered, and consumed, he regaled them with stories – just a few tales, he said, from the many gathered during his varied career as farm laborer, monk, acrobat, actor, and samurai to a mighty warlord.

Hinata watched Naruto and Jiraiya, fascinated by a way of life and the kind of people she had never known before. Naruto sucked down enough noodles for a half-dozen men. It was only when Jiraiya, Hinata, and Kurenai spoke of their reason for being on the road that Naruto perked up.

"You are going to see the healer Tsunade? We're headed there, too," he said, his hunger-sharpened features lightening with a wide smile of recognition. "The innkeeper says it's only a few more days, maybe a week on foot. But there aren't many more inns – it's all wooded - deep forest protected by kami. But we'll need to be careful - there are bandits and ronin - one I heard about from the innkeeper - Orochimaru - he sounds especially menacing -"

The wood-and-paper door was shoved open, to reveal Sasuke's dark mien. "Perhaps we shall see you there," he said in dismissal.

Naruto bristled at the suddenness of Sasuke's return. "Oh, yeah?"

Jiraiya drew himself up proudly. "Perhaps we shall. That was a most lovely evening, and we are most grateful, Lady Hinata." He bowed, deeply. Then, with a judicious poke at Naruto to also bow, they departed.

The door hadn't even shut when Sasuke began with his reprimands. "Hinata - you must be careful around strangers!"

"Of course, Brother," Hinata murmured, the words and stories of Jiraiya still dancing around her head. "But I don't think they mean any harm."

"You have no idea what people are truly like!" Sasuke shouted. "You have always been so sheltered - so spoiled - "

Astonished, Hinata looked up, her jaw dropping as she listened to her brother's vehemence.

Her brother, who rarely raised his voice, and never lost his temper, had shouted. Sasuke's pale skin pinkened with agitation. "These are strangers. They could be all smiles on the outside, but deep inside, they could mean nothing but trouble for you and me!" He stopped to ask, "Are you listening?"

Chastened, Hinata looked down and nodded.

"Good." He looked away, his jaw working until finally, he said, very quietly, "I have watched over you for as long as I can remember. I would not want you to jeopardize my life's work."

* * *

Early in the morning, Hinata looked out the window again. At first, she thought she had caught a glimpse of an elderly man, his body heavily gnarled with time, being helped out of the inn by his loving, upright grandson. She squinted to sharpen her vision, the misty morning slowly revealing the truth. Jiraiya leaned heavily on Naruto, coughing deeply, his face creased with pain. It was surprising to see how diminished the older man looked. Without the stimulation of an audience, the thinness of his frame and the deep lines on his face were immediately apparent, making him seem almost ancient.

Hinata turned toward Sakura, who looked resigned. "I know what that expression means. Do you want to give them breakfast?"

Karin was flabbergasted. "Breakfast? What would Lord Sasuke say?"

"He would say 'No,'" sighed Hinata. She closed her eyes, thinking about Sasuke's displeasure, and reconciled herself to keeping her feelings hidden. Quietly, the women finished dressing - Karin and Sakura helping Hinata with her voluminous robes and making sure she had her fan and every necessary accessory. They consumed breakfast, Hinata merely picking at her food and wetting her lips on the tea, and then packed up in silence.

Unable to resist, Hinata looked out the window again. Naruto, whose youth mixed oddly with the mature concern on his face, was holding a steaming cup of something up to a seated Jiraiya. In a fit of coughing, Jiraiya upended the cup, spilling the contents over the courtyard and himself. Instead of a great show of anger or resentment, Naruto collected the cup silently, looking sorrowful and resigned. He left and returned shortly with a grubby towel and a refilled cup, patiently waiting until Jiraiya seemed ready to drink. Then, brightly, as he mopped up the mess, he said, "Once we get to Konoha, Tsunade will know exactly what to do and cure you."

Hinata's heart moved in sympathy. She felt as if she were standing on a threshold, torn between the safety of how she had been trained her whole life to behave and the unknown danger of doing what she wanted to do. Sasuke would be very angry with her if she spoke to them again.

Unbidden, came the image of Naruto, facing Sasuke and all the Hyuuga samurai armed with only a bo and his defiance. The comparison between that and her fear to cross words with her own brother shamed her. Quaking with her own boldness, she spoke. "Sakura, ask them to join us on this trip to Konoha."

* * *

Seeing the new additions to the travel party, Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He immediately pulled Hinata aside. "Something has happened to you since this last illness, Hinata. Something is different." He looked at her searchingly. Hinata dropped her eyes to avoid the sharpness of his glance.

Sakura piped up, "I'm sure it's just the travel, Lord Sasuke."

Karin watched as Sasuke gave Sakura a cutting look. "Perhaps," he said. "And perhaps it is the people around her."

Sakura flushed.

Unable to bear someone else's embarrassment for her sake, Hinata said softly, "Maybe it is the travel." She tried appealing to his logic. "Two more travelers would help make us more secure, wouldn't it? We're all going to the same place, so it wouldn't hurt anything."

"Hn." Sasuke looked unconvinced. "Lord Hiashi had thought you were properly trained in a woman's submission, but I see he has failed. Perhaps he has been too free in your upbringing, too lenient about your discipline, Little Sister. And now you express yourself in a way that is unbecoming."

Hinata had been aware of their father's powerful desire to have Sasuke train and study unceasingly, to become a better warlord, a better scholar, a better protector of the Hyuuga and their lands, but she had not been aware of the depth of Sasuke's resentment. Slowly, she spoke, "If Father has allowed me freedom, Brother, then it is only because there has been no other choice. I have not been in the same excellent health as you."

Sasuke looked stunned.

Hinata hurried to apologize, beside herself that such words had left her mouth. "Brother, I'm sorry – "

"No, Hinata. It is I who should be sorry." He bowed and left her, joining the waiting group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thirty kisses challenge 6 - the space between dream and reality.
> 
> This story is roughly late Sengoku period. It was an era of great deal of social mobility: "samurai were easily able to move between masters and even between occupations. They would also marry between classes." (wikipedia) - although perhaps not as fluid as I've made it out to be, but things are always a bit more fluid while traveling, right? I decided to not include firearms, even though there surely would have been an increasing awareness and influence of such weaponry and the foreign traders who brought them.
> 
> kosode = a large wrap-around robe that was used as the main article of clothing before the kimono.
> 
> bo = a long staff weapon used in martial arts, in particular bōjutsu.
> 
> geta = footwear consisting of an elevated wooden platform and a strap between the toes and over each side of the foot.
> 
> Japanese fans are made of paper on a bamboo frame. There are folding fans ( _ōgi_ ), and non-bending fans ( _uchiwa_ ). The fan symbolizes friendship, respect and good wishes. It was also used in the military as a way of sending signals on the field of battle; a form of weapon, by actors and dancers for performances, by children as a toy, and for social and court activities.
> 
> kabuki = highly stylized classical Japanese dance-drama, begun ~1603 under the Tokugawa shogunate. The expression _kabukimono_ referred originally to those who were bizarrely dressed and swaggered on a street (like Jiraiya). (from wikipedia) Even though it is a little anachronistic, as kabuki's origins were feminine and highly scandalous (the pleasure quarters of Edo), maybe Jiraiya might have seen some of the early precursors - plus, traveling performers have been with us throughout history/story-telling.
> 
> I have tried to be mostly historically accurate, but there will be some failures, as I'm not very well versed in this period and wanted some things to be addressed in this story. Corrections and comments are welcome. Let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Naruto and all affiliated characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This story is written without permission and for personal/fan/nonprofit entertainment purposes only.

Jiraiya rode with the women in the ox-cart, where he told stories to pass the time. Kurenai's favorite was when Amaterasu hid herself in the cave. Hinata loved the fable of the dancing teakettle, and laughed like a child at Jiraya's rendition. Sakura requested the legend of the dauntless Tokoyo. But it was a random tangent in the middle of another tale that caught Karin's interest. She asked for it until Jiraiya complied, warning about the deep tragedy of the lost Uchiha clan.

Jiraiya settled into his seat, counseling about the epic length. As it turned out, it was a tale of many days, told in bits and pieces along the ride, over the evening campfires, and late into the night. Many of the Hyuuga samurai gathered around in the dark, the power of the narrative and the teller drawing them in.

The story of the mighty Uchiha - gifted fighters, matchless warriors, known as the sword of Heaven - was a story of overweening pride and terrible loss. After generations of great military prowess and accumulation of power, they had betrayed the trust of the Emperor himself. Their story ended in the only way possible. All clans loyal to the Imperial Throne rose up and obliterated the clan, hunting down the last boy child. This, Jiraiya claimed as truth, because he had been among the fighters in the last desperate battles where numbers mattered more than individual skill. Not, he concluded, that any of you would know this history, considering that it had happened almost a generation ago on fields far away.

Karin contradicted him, saying she had heard pieces of the story from time to time. She said it was the Emperor who had betrayed the Uchihas, luring them with greater and greater titles and power until, threatened, weakened, he ambushed and destroyed them.

Sakura, looking a little horrified in Hinata's direction, gave Karin a nudge. "It's not proper to talk to a story teller like that - about his own story!" Then she hissed, "Be careful of how you speak, while in the service of a family allied with the Emperor! You are not so new that it can be easily forgiven."

Hinata waved a hand. "It is nothing. It's just a story from a long time ago."

"You should be glad our lady is so gracious," Sakura chided, nudging Karin again.

Jiraiya gracefully inclined his head towards Karin. "There are two sides to every story," he said. "And surely, it will live on way past either of us to tell the true way of things."

* * *

Naruto walked with some of the Hyuuga samurai, behind the ox-cart. Most of the Hyuuga kept their distance, aware of some kind of unfelicitious circumstance surrounding his attachment to the group. However, one with a pleasant face and a scar across the bridge of his nose named Iruka seemed quite friendly, and another, with an mess of prematurely grey hair and a patch over his right eye named Kakashi, if not exactly outgoing, at least seemed content to let the situation alone.

They had entered the forest, the road thinning down to a dark ribbon winding through the woods in the shadows of the immense trees, barely wide enough for the ox-cart. It felt distinctly odd here in the woods - one could almost feel the presence of kami in the air.

Naruto swore he could feel someone watching him, someone tracking their entire group through the woods. Whenever he turned, however, he only saw the shapes of branches and leaves. It was like a dream, a journey through this forest of giants, their footfalls softened by heavy bracken over the ruts of the road, their voices hushed under the thin yellow-green canopy of early spring.

Once, he had the barest impression of a skinny black-haired youth his own age nimbly disappearing behind a hulking trunk. Another time, the group startled a young deer, who huffed and raced off, stopping at a safe distance to turn and stare back at them with enormous black eyes.

They reached Konoha in time for the last of the snow to disappear under a mild spring sun. The trees had been becoming larger and larger, the area between them turning to broad and flat walkways that rode up and down the hills. Just beyond a thinning of the trees, the hills gave way to a broad, shallow bowl in which lay a modest-sized village of small thatched huts. Sitting at the edge of the village sat an old temple. Spread out beyond the village were numerous large fields, some climbing up hills, others butting up against the shores of a lake that reflected the blue above; most still brown and stubbly from the winter. At the very top of the hill sat the largest red cedar Naruto could have imagined, spreading its branches grandly across the sky.

At the first hut, a skinny, black-haired youth came out, a little smirk in the corner of his mouth. Behind him stood a tall woman, her arms crossed over her large breasts, her blonde-grey hair tied up out of her face. Flanking her were two much younger women, one with black hair and a book into which she took notes, and another whose brown hair was tied up into buns at the sides of her head, wearing distinctively foreign clothing of a jacket and loose trousers.

"Hey Tsunade," the black-haired youth drawled to the older woman, as if he wasn't particularly interested. "It's those travelers I was telling you about. They've been coming through the forest for a couple of days now."

"You!" Tsunade thundered, eyes the color of long-steeped tea flaming, as she pointed an accusatory finger towards Jiraiya.

Naruto turned toward Jiraiya. "Do you know her?"

"I'm not talking to you, little boy," Tsunade dismissed Naruto.

"Watch it, old lady!" countered Naruto, sharply.

Riveted, Hinata heard Jiraiya's very softly spoken, "We, uh, have a little history."

Ignoring the young man, Tsunade resumed yelling at Jiraiya. "How dare you show yourself after all this time! Do you think time would have erased your treacherous face from my memory? I suppose you want some help, now?" She challenged, arms crossed. "Do you? After what you did to me?"

"I'm sorry," Jiraiya whispered. "I'm really, truly, deeply sorry." He turned to Naruto. "I didn't know she would take it this hard. After all this time. Maybe we should leave."

"Granny! Old lady!" Naruto exclaimed, thrusting himself directly in front of Tsunade. "Jiraiya and I have been walking here for months because the only healer that could help him was you. Months!"

Seeing he still had Tsunade's attention, Naruto grasped at straws. "You've got to help him! He's all I've got! I've promised to save him!"

Tsunade took a deep breath, considering, tapping her fingertips against an arm.

"Just because something happened in the past between you two shouldn't affect the fact that you are a healer! Just look at him! He looks terrible!" Naruto pushed Jiraiya forward. "He coughs very hard! His tongue turns all bluish sometimes! And his breath gets bad-smelling. It's really gross!"

Sighing, Tsunade reached for Jiraiya, her expression shifting from exasperation to coolly clinical. After feeling his forehead, palpating his throat, she began to frown. "Stick out your tongue."

Jiraiya complied.

"Open wider. Wider!" She inspected his mouth.

"See?" Naruto said. "Isn't his breath terrible?"

Tsunade frowned deeper. She addressed the brunette behind her. "Shizune, tell the warder to get a room ready for this patient." She was about to follow Jiraiya into the largest of the buildings when Naruto stopped her. "What do you want now, you pest? You've already got me to look at Jiraiya. Surely that should be enough for you."

Naruto pointed to Hinata. "She needs you too."

Tsunade turned, her eyes softening as she took in the young woman's nervous expression.

"What's your business here?" asked the black-haired assistant briskly, her book and charcoal stick at the ready.

Kurenai stepped forward and described Hinata's symptoms succinctly. "Headaches, numbness of the hands and feet, then all the body aches, lethargy, thirst and weakness. From talking with some of the retainers, it first began years ago. A lot of others in the castle were ill and similar symptoms lead to the death of her mother. She's had reccurring bouts since then, most seriously two years ago and then now."

"How long have you been sick?" Tsunade addressed Hinata.

"A long time, Mistress," replied Hinata, trying to remember a time in her life when she hadn't been ill.

The brown-haired woman stared at Hinata, disconcertingly directly, her large brown eyes unwavering. Nervously, Hinata smiled. The woman did not smile back.

Tsunade gestured for Hinata to follow her. "This one should also get a place." She turned to the dark-haired youth. "Shikamaru, I need you to take care of things with the warder about the new patients. Tell him I already know how full we are. Tenten, you'll have to explain to the rest of the people what the rules are here. Shizune, come with me." They departed with the air of having too much to do and not enough time or hands to do it.

"So," Sasuke asked, sardonically, his dark eyes skimmed disinterestedly past Tenten, "what are the rules here?" He took in the modest buildings of the village, some with small gardens and henhouses, and the occasional large animal shelter, some without; and the villagers, dressed in simple country clothes going about their business, taking little note of the strangers, fine and common, in their midst.

"You will be given housing and food. But no one gets away for free. You will all have to contribute," Tenten said crisply, her girlish voice touched with a distinctive, unrecognized accent.

"We've got gifts for Tsunade," Sakura said quickly. "Bolts of brocade and silk, a barrel of preserved fish, crocks of miso, um, jugs of sake from the Hyuuga family's own recipe - and - "

"That's fine, but we have a saying here in Konoha - no coin can equal sweat," Tenten declared.

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked, puzzled.

"I think it means we work," Sakura said with a sigh.

"What do you do?" Naruto quizzed Tenten, genuinely curious.

"I'm Tsunade's personal guard," she replied, curtly. "Let's get you sorted out."

* * *

That night, in their sparsely furnished, shared room, Naruto mercilessly interrogated Jiraiya. "What did you do to Granny Tsunade?"

"It was a long time ago," Jiraiya said.

"She seemed awfully steamed."

"She did seem upset. But," he said thoughtfully, "she had every right."

"What did you do?"

Jiraiya sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I convinced her fiance to leave the village and join a monastery. That's really where his heart was - "

Naruto eyes widened. "A monastery? Wow," said Naruto, plopping himself down on the ground. "I don't know if coming here was such a good idea, now."

"We'll see how far Tsunade's mercy extends," Jiraiya said, pensively.

"Do you think he's still there?"

Jiraiya shrugged. "Probably. If he knew what was waiting for him here, Dan would definitely stay put." He thought a moment and shivered.

"A monastery," mulled Naruto, thoughtfully. Alarmed, he sat straight up. "Old man, is that where you think you'll send me?"

"Dan was a serious, kind, religious, thoughtful kid who was interested in the cosmic questions. Nothing like you."

"Well, that's a relief," sighed Naruto and settled back. It wasn't until a good amount of time went by that he yelped, "Hey!"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. He loved the boy, but he could be dumber than a rock.

* * *

The daily routines were settled quickly. Karin and Sakura were initially assigned to the kitchens where the meals for the ill were cooked. But after her first disastrous day, Sakura was quickly moved to the infirmary. Both Karin and Sakura were very apologetic that they could no longer tend to Hinata in the way they had previously - Tenten couldn't hide her disdain at their deep apologies to their lady for abandoning her; no longer able to tend to her skin, hair, and clothing as they had previously.

"We'll still bring you morning tea!" Sakura insisted.

"And help you dress every day," said Karin.

"This country and the delicacy of the noblewomen!" Tenten exclaimed, scornful. "Needing servants to do such things!"

Sakura, taken aback, commented, "But you serve Tsunade."

"I owe her everything. It is not the same." Tenten replied, fiercely.

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke and the rest of the Hyuuga samurai were given various assignments depending on their inclinations and the needs of the village: patrolling the grounds with Tsume Inuzuka, the kennel keeper, and her dogs; farming with Inoichi Yamanaka, the keeper of the communal farm land; gathering wood with Shikaku Nara, the warder of the forests, for the endlessly hungry forge of Chouza Akimichi, and so on.

After each day's work, on a bare patch of land off to one side of the village, the Hyuuga men practiced, exercising, keeping up their fighting skills. One day, finally tired of Naruto's envious looks as he lingered on the periphery, Sasuke asked, scornfully, "You want to try?"

"Yeah," Naruto replied, drawing himself up proudly. He seemed completely unaware of the image he presented, dressed in a short mud-stained robe of coarse material, a sweat-stained cloth tied around his forehead, his sleeves tied up with a string instead of proper tasuke, his bare legs dirty from his work in the fields that day.

"Kakashi!" The one-eyed man-at-arms turned. "Throw me a bokken!"

As swift as lightning, Kakashi noted the difference between Naruto's appearance and Sasuke's fine silk kosode, he tossed the wooden sword to Sasuke, who in turn threw it at Naruto.

"Show me what you know," taunted Sasuke.

Murmuring began among the men who were watching - "Sasuke has only ever been beaten by Neji." "Bet you Sasuke teaches that one a lesson." "Sasuke's a genius - why is he wasting his time?"

On his mettle, Naruto tested the weight of the bokken, its reach and length. At Kakashi's call, he came out swinging. Much to everyone's surprise, he seemed to know what he was doing.

But Sasuke was better. Sasuke always knew where his feet were, always knew exactly what his next move was going to be even as his opponent began his swing.

Naruto's saving graces were his ability to take punishment, his tenacity, and his luck at avoiding the most serious of Sasuke's strikes. Still, after enduring several punishing thwacks by Sasuke's bokken, Naruto was clearly hurt and tiring, but Sasuke was also sweating and breathing hard.

"You aren't bad," Sasuke commented.

"You neither," Naruto returned, shortly.

"But there's no way someone like you could beat me," Sasuke said, and beat furiously through the air with his bokken.

"Oh, yeah?" Naruto panted, parrying wildly.

"You're nothing," Sasuke stated with flat certainty.

"I'm just testing you out," Naruto said with a cocky half-grin. "Just wait til this nothing beats you."

"Beat me? Beat me?" Sasuke almost laughed. "You?"

Naruto's cheeks flushed and everything about his posture changed. It wasn't shame - it was a total transformation of a young man openly, even aggressively, revealing his dream. He straightened up and stood taller, a thumb pointing to the center of his chest. "Just you wait and see! I will be a leader of a great castle! I will work unceasingly to attain it! That is my budo!"

"I see nothing but a fool, and the way of a fool is no way at all," Sasuke retorted. Then he went in for the kill, with the skill and precision of a of a long-time combatant, easily overpowering his opponent. Only the bokken's wooden nature prevented Naruto from having his side split open. As it was, it almost broke some of his ribs.

Kakashi called out, "Come, Lord Sasuke. We have things to attend to."

Sullenly, Sasuke threw the bokken down and followed Kakashi.

As Sasuke stalked off, the mood around the Hyuuga samurai was mixed. Some clearly saw Naruto as an upstart who deserved the beating he got, others felt the boy should get some praise for his surprisingly good beginning and daring. And a very quiet few felt it wouldn't hurt Sasuke to have some a little of his pride knocked out of him.

Watching how carefully the other Hyuuga men avoided speaking to Sasuke, Naruto kept silent. He seemed surprised when Iruka came up to him. "You did a good job there."

The young man's face lit up at the recognition. "Thanks."

"What kind of sword practice did you have before?"

"I did some with Jiraiya. Until he got too sick. And then I had to - " he stopped, his expression shutting down entirely.

"What?" Iruka blinked at the sudden change in Naruto's demeanor.

"I had to stop." The words came out woodenly, pushed forth unwillingly.

"It's not a shame to stop," Iruka said, cheerfully, setting aside the idea of having to talk with Jiraiya later. "If you get more practice, I think you might be able to become quite good. A lot more practice." He paused, looking intently at the young man in front of him. Despite Naruto's worn clothing and dirty appearance, Iruka realized that his 'budo' was something the boy strongly believed in - almost to a ludicrous degree. Naruto had promise, but promise did not equal skill and practice and discipline. Iruka couldn't see pass the possibilities to the core of the boy. And having taught the basics to every Hyuuga in the clan for years; since he himself was younger than the young man in front of him, Iruka fancied that he knew enough about swordsmanship to read anyone.

Defensively, Naruto erupted, "I would have practiced - I could have practiced, but I had to sell my tanto. For my master, Jiraiya. He needed the medicine it could buy. But it wasn't enough," he ended, bitter disappointment still evident.

Ah, well, Iruka thought. That's interesting. The boy was certainly capable of sacrifice. Maybe that would be enough. Maybe that strong belief in his budo and his ability to sacrifice would be enough. Certainly, it made Iruka want to help him attain it. Besides, in these times of great wars and upheaval, who was to say Naruto wasn't capable of achieving his dream? "If you are serious about learning, I will teach you. With Jiraiya's permission."

Happiness flashed across the young man's face.

Iruka gave the younger man a pat on the shoulder. "First, get some rest."

* * *

Iruka had his opportunity to speak with Jiraiya earlier than he expected. That evening, he was sitting on a bench outside the small house that served as the Hyuuga retainer bunkhouse, cleaning his sword when the older man plopped himself down next to him.

"It's a beautiful evening," Jiraiya said.

Iruka looked up at the sky, considering Jiraiya's opening salvo. "Looks partly cloudy."

"What is a sky without clouds to highlight the colors?"

Unable to help himself, Iruka grinned. "Indeed. Anyway, they say tomorrow will be perfectly clear."

Jiraiya looked thoughtfully at Iruka, deciding to go straight to the matter. "Naruto wanted me to talk to you about something."

Iruka nodded, considering the sheen on his sword. "I think he could be a good swordsman. I think he's got potential, but I want to be sure."

Jiraiya nodded heavily. "Yes. Potential. That's the one thing he's got."

"Tell me about Naruto," Iruka urged. "If he would be a good student."

"Will he be a good student?" Jiraiya considered. "He's got a temper and terrible manners. Eats like a horse and snores like a bear, swears like a sailor." At Iruka's pained look, Jiraiya brought himself back to topic. "Oh, sorry about the rambling. A hazard in the storytelling profession. He would be a risky student - a lot of potential, a good heart, but an unknown history. Of course, I like the risk. Makes the training more interesting."

"So you don't know his family at all?"

"No. This little kid just started following me around when I was acting in Edo - like he knew me already. Like I owed him something -" a little smile crossed Jiraiya's face at the memory. "He stuck, the little rat. All he owned were the clothes on his back and a tanto - with a seal I'd never seen before. He said it that had belonged to his father. That sword was his greatest possession."

"Show me the seal."

Obligingly, Jiraiya traced a spiral outlined by clouds, like a whirlpool in a thunderstorm.

"Hn," said Iruka. "Doesn't look familiar. Who is his father?"

"He doesn't know," Jiraiya paused. "I would give a lot to know."

"No father?"

"It's not so bad, he had a hard life, but somebody or somebodies took care of him, and he's mostly a good kid." Jiraiya reassured Iruka. "Whoever taught him about swords gave him the very basics of form - and he can pick up almost any move very quickly - but his education has a lot of holes. He can do some amazingly advanced kata, but some of his footwork is incredibly sloppy."

Iruka nodded, having noticed these things himself.

"He can recite some poetry and sutras, but he can't read very well. He's not the most scholarly person I've ever met. I have tried to teach him as best I could - but there is only so much I could do, and then I became ill." Jiraiya sighed theatrically. "It would sure be great if somebody was interested enough to take him on."

Iruka was inwardly amused at Jiraiya's obvious machinations. He had already decided to help the boy, but he couldn't seem too interested and didn't want to hurt Jiraiya's feelings if somehow, Naruto failed to live up to his standards. "Maybe you and Naruto could come some afternoon when I'm with some of the younger samurai - to see if there's anything I could teach him."

"If you don't consider it too intrusive," Jiraiya temporised.

Iruka laughed. "Once you've had Hiashi Hyuuga breathing down your neck, anything else is positively disinterested."

* * *

The next day, Iruka was ambushed by Naruto on his way through the village.

"When do you want me to start?" Naruto asked, eagerly.

 _Had the boy been waiting there all day?_ Iruka wondered. "Tomorrow?"

"How about now? Do you have time?"

Iruka looked up. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky. "Hey, Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think about the weather today?" asked Iruka.

Without even looking up at the sky, Naruto said, "It's a perfect day to start."

Iruka nodded. "Yes. I think so too."

As they began with the stances, something about the way Naruto held the bokken made Iruka inhale suddenly, a vague sense of disquiet prodding him. What was it that made him feel as if he had seen that stance before? Some lost teaching from his old mentor? An opponent, long since dispatched? In a dream, maybe? He shook his head, causing Naruto to drop the sword.

"What's wrong?" Naruto queried, concerned.

"A fox just walked over my grave," Iruka explained, shrugging the sensation off. "Start again - let's see where your feet are."

* * *

A few days later, Naruto showed up to training with a massively built youth in tow. Iruka recognized him as Chouji, the son of the blacksmith. "We just got to talking - and he's interested in swords, and I thought it would be a good idea for him to see what I'm going to do with it."

Iruka frowned, wondering what was expected of him.

Jiraiya asked, "Can you fit Chouji into your training plans?"

Iruka nodded, slowly. While Chouji wasn't classically proportioned, it shouldn't be a problem. Iruka had, after all, trained individuals others had considered untrainable.

"It'll be great, just you wait," insisted Naruto.

"I will work very hard," promised Chouji.

* * *

Another day, Naruto showed up with a serious-looking boy with serious eyes, and a very serious bowl haircut. "Hey, Iruka, this is son of the cook, Rock Lee."

"Master Iruka," said Lee, bowing deeply, "I would be honored to be trained by you and Master Jiraiya."

Iruka looked at Jiraiya, who, with a twinkle in his eye, nodded.

* * *

Yet another day, and Naruto reported to Iruka with two new people - Shikamaru, and Kiba, the son of the kennel keeper, who stands in the watchful silence.

"C'mon Iruka," Naruto said, "Kiba and Shikamaru're great, and they know all sorts of things. How could this hurt?"

Iruka glanced over at Jiraiya, who hid a grin very poorly behind a cough. "How could this hurt, Iruka?"

Iruka sighed. When he had first proposed training Naruto, he meant _training Naruto_ , not an entire generation of Konoha's young men. He spoke to Shikamaru. "What about your mother? Isn't she going to object?"

"Mom? Nah. She's always looking to get me out from underfoot. She'll be thrilled."

"Your father?"

"Huh. He always does what she tells him to."

Iruka then addressed Kiba. "How about you?"

"If Akamaru can come," said Kiba, firmly.

"Who is Akamaru?" asked Iruka, wildly imaging another boy - or another hoard of boys suddenly appearing.

"My dog," said Kiba, looking at Iruka suspiciously.

"Oh," Iruka smiled with relief. "All right then."

* * *

By the time Naruto arrived with apprentice beekeeper, Shino, Iruka just folded the student in with the rest of the young men. He hadn't had a group of students this large in - maybe ever. As each day passed, he liked the group more and more, his initial surprise turning into one of pleasure. What once seemed a mass of youth and pride and awkward limbs slowly turned into a group that fought well in a coordinated group. It made Iruka proud. But even with the occasional hint to Sasuke, he never showed up.

Then came the day a pre-teen visited during training, his hair still in a child's top-knot. "You!" he challenged, pointing his toy bokken at Naruto. "It's you I'm going to beat! I will be the leader of a great castle and this village - but I must beat you first!"

All eyes turned to Naruto's reaction. He drew himself up. "Oh yeah, come here and I'll beat the whine out of you, kid!"

Lee cleared his throat. "Hey, Naruto - that's Konohamaru Sarutobi. His grandfather is on Tsunade's council of elders."

Konohamaru nodded in pleased recognition. Then he looked at Naruto defiantly.

"Oh," Naruto stopped to think. "Well, Konohamaru Sarutobi, you get any closer to where the _real men_ are practicing and I'll definitely beat the whine out of you!"

Konohamaru's eyes widened in disbelief. "What?"

Kiba muttered, "Naruto, nobody talks to Konohamaru like that."

"-And, you can go back crying to your grandfather if you don't like it, little boy." Naruto nodded, pleased with his speech. Then when Konohamaru ran towards him, howling, windmilling his arms and his bokken wildly about, Naruto did proceed to thrash the boy soundly.

After Naruto had released the boy, he challenged, "When you are ready for a real rival, come on back. I will be waiting to beat you for that castle!"

After that day, Konohamaru became a devoted follower of Naruto. Konohamaru attached himself as tightly as a burr, following Naruto around to see how he spent his time, what he ate, and who his friends were. He would even bring his friends around to spend even more time with Naruto.

Jiraiya snickered. "How does it feel, Naruto?"

* * *

EARLY SUMMER

A flock of birds sprang into the air, crying as they rose into the sky.

Shikamaru looked up, his face dropping with annoyance.

"What is it?" Naruto asked. They had both been climbing the great trees while on patrol duty, which was Shikamaru's favorite way of avoiding his mother, thereby avoiding his father and hence avoiding work. And Naruto, after weeks of back-breaking work in the fields, was nothing loath to follow.

Shikamaru paused, listened, and then pointed downward. Several moments later, just below them, a rider and horse burst into view. In a second, they were gone, headed directly towards Konoha.

"I wonder what that guy's going for," wondered Naruto, having learned that while visitors may come and go from Konoha regularly, they were almost never in that much of a rush.

"He's got a badge from the family of the Emperor," noted Shikamaru. "Come on, I know a shortcut." They hurried into the village.

* * *

It had not taken long for Hinata to discover that her small house was adjacent to the village's small nursery. Sounds of children and women floated in through the small window.

She had been prescribed a regimen of diet, herbs, rest and minor exercises, and seemed to be recovering very well. She had not been given a job, as others had. She had been too sickly. But as her health had improved, her restlessness had increased until she made her way next door.

Hinata peeked in. Sakura, a toddler in her lap, held a bowl and a spoon, looking like she was trying to feed him.

By all appearances, the feeding was not going well. The child was refusing her, turning his face away, lips pressed tightly closed. "Now, now, Haruki - " Sakura coaxed. A pudgy hand reached for the spoon. "Good boy," she said.

Haruki grabbed the spoon from Sakura's hand, and then flung the contents all over her front.

The toddler looked up at Hinata, who smiled. She smiled at the fine brown hair, the smooth skin, and the wide-open eyes, eyes like pale blue-grey slate. Then she covered the smile with a hand, so Sakura couldn't see.

Impatiently, the baby lifted a finger to his open mouth. "Mo'," the little voice piped demandingly.

Sakura offered the spoon.

"No!" he shrilled, batting it to one side. He pointed at Hinata. "Mo'!"

Sakura looked up. "My lady - maybe you better go back to your room. You've never been around children - "

"Sakura, if I could help?" Hinata offered, then added wistfully, "It is a little lonely without you and Karin."

"Mo'!"

Sakura looked at Hinata, and then back at Haruki. "Well..."

They heard the inimitable sounds of broken pottery, high-pitched childish shrieking, and the dull sound of something heavy being repeatedly beaten against the floor. Hastily, Sakura handed over the bowl and spoon. "If you truly don't mind. I really do need to attend that."

As Hinata seated herself on the ground, the toddler seemed immensely pleased to see her. He reached forward to touch her clothes, familiarly patting the seals - in the shape of a drop of blood, with a whirl - printed all over her outer robes. "Those are the family insignia of my family - the kamon of the Hyuuga - I'm sure your family has them too," she said.

This seemed to satisfy him. He sat down in her lap. She readied the gruel and spoon.

"Hinata!" Sasuke's voice sliced through the nursery, his sober face and black robes at odds with the happy brightness of the place.

Without knowing why, Hinata clutched the child closer to her body.

A woman intercepted Sasuke, calling, "Excuse me, sir, but men who aren't fathers are not allowed in here."

Haruki shifted in protest at the tight hold then fell backward out of Hinata's abruptly loosened hold, out of her lap, and banged the back of his head against the floor. He immediately began to bellow in distress, eyes squinched shut, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. Hinata scooped him up off the ground, cuddling him awkwardly and trying to shush him at the same time.

"Right," Sasuke grunted and turned around, but not before he had surveyed the babies and young children with a disdainful eye. Some of them started to cry. He grimaced, saying, "I don't know how women do it, surrounded by this noise." He turned, and as he left, he tossed the words over his shoulder, "Tsunade wants to see you. There's a message from your father."

The woman who had intercepted Sasuke reached for Haruki, who had settled down to sad hiccups, and Sakura hustled Hinata out to Tsunade's chambers.

* * *

Naruto burst into the area of Hinata's rooms, only to find Sakura and Karin huddled together, whispering to each other in a hushed and somber mood.

"Hey, Sakura! Shikamaru and me - we saw the rider - what's the message?"

Sakura turned, her eyes suspiciously bright. "It's a letter from Lord Hiashi."

"That's great, right? Hinata gets a letter from her father. Everybody likes getting news. So why is everyone acting like their best friend died?"

Flatly, Karin said, "The engagement between the emperor's nephew and Hinata has been broken. They thought she was too sick for too long. New arrangements have been made."

Stricken, Naruto asked, "Hinata was engaged?"

"Yes. Ever since she was a little girl. The marriage didn't happened because she was never well enough to travel to the capitol," Karin explained.

Sakura said, "Lord Hiashi has offered Lady Hanabi as a replacement and the Emperor has accepted."

"And her father could just offer her sister, just like that?" Naruto asked incredulously.

Karin looked surprised that anybody could have an objection to the principle. "Of course." Then, as if it were the only reasonable approach, she said, "It is still a family alliance to the Emperor."

"That's terrible!"

"Yes, it is," Karin agreed. "It's also a terrible blow to Lady Hinata's social standing. She'll never get an offer nearly that good again."

Sakura mourned, "Our poor lady. She won't even be able to attend the wedding. Lady Hanabi will be married by the time the messenger returned to the capitol, if she isn't already. The messenger went to Hyuuga Castle first."

"It can't be that bad," Naruto insisted, and before he could be stopped, pushed through to the darkened inner room, to find Hinata sitting, aimlessly staring at a scroll on the floor; by her side a small cup of water and an ink stone on which was propped an ink stick and calligraphy brush.

"No!" cried Karin and Sakura together, upset, hovering at the door.

Hinata looked up at him, blinking at the sunshine he had brought into the room, and then looked swiftly away, scrubbing at the tear tracks on her face with the edges of her long sleeves.

"You can't go in!" Sakura scolded.

Hinata waved off her handmaidens. "Please," she whispered. "Come in." She smiled wanly at Naruto, a broken remnant of a social mannerism. "Please sit."

Naruto opened his mouth and nothing came out. He wasn't prepared to see this open sadness, this obvious sense of a future shattered. He finally blurted out, "I heard about the engagement breaking."

"Ah," she reddened, blotchily. She looked down at the scroll. Following the direction of her glance, he also looked down at the perfect, fluid script. _"Felicitations on your wedding, dear sister. I have nothing but the greatest"_ the last word marred by the heavy pooling of ink on the paper, as if the brush had been held over it too long.

"I'm sorry," he said, awkwardly.

"Thank you." She continued to look in any direction but his.

"But it's just marriage to a guy you'd never met, right? Maybe next time it'll be someone who's really great - "

"Thank you," she interrupted.

"Yeah - a guy who's better than the nephew of the emperor - a guy who - a guy who's a great hero - or - maybe -" Naruto couldn't think of anyone better than that.

"Thank you, again," she whispered.

A creeping embarrassment began to make itself known - embarrassment about what he had done and said; barging into her room, bringing up her loss, and her awkward response to his condolences. Naruto stepped backward, thinking to make his exit. "I'm sorry for disturbing you - if I had known -"

She began to speak, haltingly, softly, struggling to make sense of her current circumstances to the both of them. "I never really dreamed of becoming an Imperial Lady, not really, not with being so sick. I knew I was never worthy. I know so little about anything - I've never even managed our own lands, or traveled beyond my own village until now." She drew a deep breath. "This match is better for Hanabi. She's younger, in better health, and she is more capable of managing a household. And it _is_ good for the family. My expectations - my hopes - are nothing compared to that."

Naruto was drawn back to her by the sound of her voice. He looked at her, really looked at her; seeing the hurt and loss and confusion in the great grey eyes under the veneer of fine clothes and filial piety. He also saw the bravery in the acknowledgement of her shortcomings, and his heart moved. "What did - do you want?"

She closed her eyes a moment. When she opened them, it was as if Naruto were staring at the silvery twinned reflection of the moon in the dark waters of night. "I would like to be well," she said, wistfully. "I would like to have a family and children, like other women. I would like to marry someday - someone who wouldn't care about status or politics or money or what my family can give him. Someone with a good heart." She made a small gesture with her hand, dismissing the request as too much to ask from even the most benevolent of deities. "It would have been nice to have been presented to the Emperor. To meet him. It would have been too much to expect to have been under his protection."

"I promise - you will always be protected, Hinata," Naruto declared, strongly.

Astonished, she said, "Of course, Naruto. I don't doubt that." His nodding was cut short by her continuation - "Why, Iruka and Kakashi and Ko and Sasuke -"

"No - no -"

She was taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"I meant - not those guys. I mean me. I. I will protect you."

Hinata shook her head, "Naruto, you don't have to say that - it's just the disappointment of a spoiled girl."

"You spoiled? Nah. You helped us arrive here, and maybe saved Jiraiya's life." He straightened up, his hand over his heart. "This I promise - I will protect you."

She raised a hand to her mouth, looking as if she wanted to burst into tears or laughter. Tentatively she nodded.

"Great!" he exclaimed. "Wait till I tell everybody!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After being driven into a cave by her brother, Susanoo, Ameratsu refused to leave, taking the sun and light with her. All the gods and goddesses in their turn strove to coax Amaterasu out of the cave, to no avail. Finally, Ame-no-Uzume, hatched a plan. She placed a large bronze mirror on a tree, facing Amaterasu's cave. Then, Uzume clothed herself in flowers and leaves, overturned a washtub and began to dance on it, drumming the tub with her feet. Finally, Uzume shed the leaves and flowers and danced naked. All the male gods roared with laughter, and Amaterasu became curious. When she peeked outside, a ray of light called "dawn" escaped and Amaterasu was dazzled by the beautiful goddess she saw (her own reflection in the mirror). Surrounded by merriment, Amaterasu's depression disappeared and she agreed to return her light to the world. Uzume was from then on known as the kami of dawn as well as mirth. - from wikipedia
> 
> In this story, Tenten is from Mongolia, which was famous for their fierce warriors. Certainly, natives were seen as less layered in formality and seemingly "soft" civilizing, even potentially corrupting forces, whatever the reality. (from a lecture on depictions of Chinese Imperial power in art)
> 
> bokken = a wooden training tool for learning swordsmanship. "The sword and the art of its use goes back before the times of written history. There are legends that tell of the mythical period of the gods concerning their use of swords." (wikipedia)
> 
> kata = detailed choreographed patterns of movements practised either solo or in pairs , most often associated with martial arts.
> 
> tasuke = a special looped cord used while working to keep sleeves out of the way. anamiweb(dot)com (slash) kimono. And before I forget - many, many thanks to the various websites containing images and text of period Japanese clothing, and how to make modern analogues.
> 
> budo = "fighting way." Budō is a compound of the root _bu_ , meaning war or martial; and _dō_ , meaning path or way. Budo also gives attention to the mind and how one should develop oneself. The perfect warrior of the times included skills in warfare as well as poetry. "Tadanori (a warrior from the Taira Clan) was famous for his skill with the pen and the sword or the "bun and the bu", the harmony of fighting and learning. Samurai were expected to be cultured and literate, and admired the ancient saying "Bun Bu Ryo Do" (literary arts, military arts, both ways) or "The pen and the sword in accord." (wikipedia, samurai entry)
> 
> tanto = short sword - a common single- or double-edged knife or dagger with a blade length between 15 and 30 cm (6-12 inches). Tanto were mostly carried by samurai. Before the 16th century, it was common for a samurai to carry a tachi and a tantō as opposed to a katana and a wakizashi. (Wikipedia)
> 
> kamon, mon = emblems used to decorate and identify an individual or family. While _mon_ is an encompassing term that may refer to any such device, _kamon_ refer specifically to emblems used to identify a family. _Mon_ holders may also combine their _mon_ with that of their patron, benefactor or spouse, sometimes creating increasingly complicated designs. (wikipedia, mon entry)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Naruto and all affiliated characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This story is written without permission and for personal/fan/nonprofit entertainment purposes only.

Hinata sat outside her rooms, soaking in the late spring sunshine, a child's torn hapi coat in her hands. A familiar voice reached her ears, and as she located him at the edges of her vision, the mending slid unheeded into her lap. A small smile played around the corners of her mouth. Naruto was talking with the village potter, an older man with a stern, lined face and enormous hands. After making some sort of digging gesture, he said something, to which the old man clapped him heartily on his shoulder and laughed. It was always this way, Hinata thought. Naruto had this gift of friendship, of extending good will and a generous heart, which found reciprocity with almost everyone in the village.

Ever since his impulsive promise, Hinata had began to watch Naruto. It started out simply enough; she was looking for a way to speak to him, to make him take back his hasty words.

She was secretly, deeply, wholly touched that anyone not obligated to protect her would promise to. But it was too much to ask. Yet she could not bring herself to actually start speaking to him. She would think about approaching him, and had even walked to within a few feet of him, only to retreat, afraid he might see her. She was frightened, deeply, wholly, that he would realize his mistake and would say it in so many words.

If only she had Karin's drive to do whatever needed to be done or Sakura's ability to speak with anyone about anything. But there was only herself, too scared to open her mouth, which would never be enough.

As Naruto walked off with the potter, still talking, Hinata sighed. A shadow fell over her work.

"Why do you watch that boy?" Tenten asked, standing next to her. "He's loud, rude and doesn't have any manners."

Hinata flushed, looking down at her hands. She had not realized she was being so obvious.

"That coat should probably be thrown away," Tenten commented, eyeing it critically. "It's patches on patches."

Hinata replied, "Mottainai. My mother would have wanted me to save it. She wanted us to try to save everything possible."

Tenten huffed something under her breath.

Increasingly aware of Tenten's negative attitude towards her, stung by what she imagined Tenten must be thinking, Hinata was driven to speak. "I watch Naruto because he knows what his dreams are and works for them unceasingly, but he won't harm anyone to achieve them. He doesn't know who is family is, or where he was born, but he knows who is he. Moreover, Naruto has the wisdom of being happy with who he is, and his circumstances, and the strength to want to change them for the better. I admire that - I wish I had that strength."

Tenten said abruptly, "You are not like I imagined you would be."

Before Hinata could formulate a reply, Tenten stepped away, saying, "Tsunade wishes to see you - she's in the main healing house."

* * *

"I thought things were changing for that patient," Sakura said, frowning at a bundle of notes laying on a table in Tsunade's main office. "He seemed to be getting so much better - and then - it all changed - I don't understand." She shuffled through the papers some more, trying to find the single point at which the prognosis turned from positive to negative.

Gently, Tsunade said, "You cannot blame yourself. Medicine only works if the patient is willing to take the cure. We'll see how he is over the next few days, but I don't expect much change. Some people can recover from the most horrific of wounds by sheer will, while others refuse to heal from the most minor of injuries."

"But - why?" Sakura asked, concerned and bewildered.

"Something broken in the soul? A lack of dreams? A fear of what happens should they get better?" suggested Tsunade. "I don't know. Whatever it is, it is out of my realm. And yours, too."

"Mistress?" queried Tenten, quietly, diffidently as she approached the consulting pair from the side.

Tsunade turned, with the air of someone entirely too used to being interrupted.

"Hinata Hyuuga is here."

After bidding Sakura to wait, Tsunade walked over to Hinata. "Hinata," Tsunade began, looking at her patient with a sharp, assessing gaze.

"Mistress?" Hinata replied, surprised at Tsunade's deliberate tone.

"Sakura and Kurenai have told me about your improving health, and with improving health comes an increasing need to find occupation."

Hinata listened, a little worried about what Tsunade would consider 'occupation.'

"I think," the healer said, a speculative light in her eyes, "I think you should come on rounds with me for a while." She nodded. "Yes, you should."

At a barely perceptible twitch of the faithful Tenten, Tsunade added, "I don't mean the healing, but the village governance. Shizune and Tenten will help you if you need to ask questions."

* * *

So began a period where Hinata shadowed Tsunade, watching how she spoke to all the villagers, and considered their opinions, no matter their status, consulted with the elders, and arranged for trade with passing vendors and distant neighbors. Hinata was made aware of Tsunade's reach and grasp of her village, the people within it as well as the lands and resources surrounding it, like she had never been of her own lands and people. She met with the laconic Shikaku Nara, the reserved Homura Mitokado, the loud and gruffly kind Chouza Akimichi, the opinionated Koharu Utatane, the serene Masako, and the wise Hiruzen Sarutobi.

She became increasingly aware of the tension in Tenten every time she got near her. She could not see the reason for it - surely there was nothing Hinata had done to her, nothing that could explain the quiet hostility that emanated from her. And Hinata knew it was solely directed towards herself. Tenten's interactions with other villagers were very polite and some were quite friendly. Once, she saw an enormously large young man approach Tenten as they were all waiting for Tsunade to finish some business inside her house.

He nodded in a friendly fashion in her direction, but it was transparently obvious where his interest lay.

"Good morning, Tenten. How's Haruki?" he asked warmly.

"He's well, very well, thank you, Chouji," a pleased little smile creeped onto Tenten's face, softening her studied neutral aspect. "That baby-carrier you made for him when he was just born - he's going to be too big for it soon."

"I'm happy to hear it. I'll make another," Chouji promised.

"The time seems to pass so quickly - I don't know where it went."

"He's a good boy," Chouji said, grinning back at her. "Smart."

The smile faded from Tenten's face. "Like his father."

"Ah," Chouji fumbled, trying to correct his stumble, "Like his mother."

The moment was gone, and although Tenten gave him a courtesy nod and a "Thank you," Chouji turned an alarming shade of red and moved on quickly.

After a moment, genuinely curious, Hinata asked, "Where are you from, Tenten?"

"I was born in Mongolia," she replied, shortly.

"Oh," said Hinata, impressed. "I'm from several days journey from here - I'd never been outside my town before."

Tenten did not answer.

After a minute, Hinata tried again. "How did you come to Konoha?"

"Tsunade saved my life."

"It seems that many who come here to be healed end up staying. I heard the blacksmith broke with the lord of his forefathers to come here and save his son."

"Yes," Tenten said, neither agreeing or disagreeing. As Tenten did not seem inclined to speak further, Hinata did as she was taught to do in circumstances of awkwardness and tried to ignore it.

* * *

As the days went by, Hinata continued to worry about Naruto's promise, but as she became increasingly busy, she pushed off the inevitable discussion for sometime safely into the future. Certainly, it wouldn't be something to honor - just a rash exclamation that would be forgotten. Certainly.

And then it happened where she realized Naruto always kept his promises.

It was a beautiful clear day by the lake, the woods casting their shadows across some of the wind-begotten ripples. Some of the women had gathered their children up and brought them down by the lake, Hinata and Sakura among them. There were a few older boys already fishing at the end of the old wooden pier, while the small children remained paddling in the sun-warmed shallows.

Hinata was busy with the smallest children, receiving bits of damp, muddy rocks from damp, muddy little hands and then returning them as required, uncaring of the water and dirt stains on her clothes. She found this interaction, which was entirely new to her, very funny, as the children seemed to be so serious in their game of "give and take back."

Sakura had said something about finding her some different clothes or at the very least, an apron, if Hinata continued to play with the children. It had yet to rise to the occasion where Hinata felt something had to be done, so she continued to wear fine fabrics, which were all she owned, while interacting with children. If those clothes were spoiled, then so be it, regardless of how Karin bemoaned their ruined state. It did not seem so bad to wear clothes with a few blemishes here in Konoha, especially when everyone seemed to know how they became spotty, and everyone else's clothes seemed so much more worn than hers. Only as a concession to the warming weather did she start to wear fewer layers and leave off her uchikage, as opposed to anything her handmaidens might have said.

She did a quick survey of the little heads in front of her but couldn't find Haruki. He must be around here somewhere, Hinata thought, raising her eyes to touch on all the other children in the area. Her sudden, sharp gasp caused some of the adults to peer quizzically at her, but it was her precipitous jumping up and running toward the edge of the pier that really drew attention.

Haruki, blissfully unaware, had stepped out onto a make-shift raft that had been loosely tied to the pier. Then he sat, watching the water. Somehow, his actions had led to the knot unraveling and the rope slid off the pillar, and the little raft floated serenely away from the pier and far out of arms' reach.

Hinata sprinted to the edge of the pier and jumped into the lake, thinking that the pier couldn't possibly be dug in very deeply, as it wasn't very long. Surely, she would be back on its weather-greyed surface soon - the raft had just floated out of arms reach. As the water closed in over her head, she found out how wrong she was. It was very deep, and very dark, and very, very cold. Frantically flailing, she broke the surface of the lake, gulping in air desperately. She couldn't see the raft. The shore was crowded with bodies. Where was Haruki?

Sakura was screaming, "She doesn't know how to swim!"

Hinata started to turn and then hit something so hard with the top of her head, she lurched backward, stunned into immobility. Then she went down again, inhaling water that burned as it surged through her nose and throat. Panicking, she couldn't tell which direction was up or down, it was so dark. She couldn't move very much; the clothes were so heavy, the water so resistant to any movement. She closed her eyes. The darkness and cold enveloped her, dragged her down, but she wanted to return to the light. Even though she knew she had failed, she couldn't give up. _Be brave,_ she thought, plowing through the water with her arms. _I have to be brave and strong. I have to believe. I am not alone._

And then something grabbed her - and she twisted and yanked away, so very slowly. She felt roughly grabbed again, tugged, pulling and pulling and pulling painfully at her arms until she reached the surface again.

Naruto, water pouring off his face, yelled at her, "Stop hitting me!" Hinata, unaware that she had been doing so, was more than happy to stop moving. He pushed her toward the raft.

"Now," Naruto ordered, "Hold on!" She clutched fiercely and gratefully to the rough wood, coughing and choking on the water already in her mouth, hardly aware of she what was doing.

Naruto guided the small craft toward the shore, Haruki still sitting on its surface, now howling at Hinata's fearful expression and the commotion back on shore.

They approached the pier. Haruki was taken first. Then, Hinata felt a mass of arms pulling her up and out of the water. She fell to her knees on the pier, miserably retching up what seemed like half of all the water from the lake.

Naruto dropped next to her and panted, "I told you I'd protect you. But you've got to promise me that you've got to try to protect and save yourself, too! Promise me."

Coughing, shivering despite the warmth of the day, Hinata could only nod, water streaming off her hair and clothes. Sakura ran up, her face wrinkled with anxiety. "Lady! You're bleeding!"

"What?" Hinata asked weakly. It seemed as if she wasn't hearing correctly - water streamed from every pore, blocking thought and sound and sensation. She was still so cold, her wet hair and clammy clothes forming a barrier to any heat and warmth.

It was only when Hinata looked down that she realized there was some pink-tinged water accumulating in the puddles around her. She reached to touch the top of her head, wincing as she realized where the radiating pain was coming from. Slowly, numbly, she said, "I think I hit something with my head."

"The raft," Sakura guessed. "We'd better take you somewhere you can rest and have Tsunade look at you. Naruto! Help me take Lady Hinata down to her house."

Hinata shook her head. "Haruki?"

Sakura gestured over to where Tenten was holding tightly to Haruki. The moment he had seen his mother, Haruki had burst into fresh tears, sniveling and crying out, "Maama! Maama!" followed by a flurry of sobbing, babbly words as Tenten held him closely.

* * *

Tsunade proclaimed Haruki only frightened by the encounter, but she wanted Hinata to stay indoors for a few days. "I know the waters of the lake are supposed to contain curative properties, but I don't think the village founders meant for anyone to drink the quantities you've drunk today."

* * *

Sasuke appeared in Hinata's rooms that evening, decrying the wisdom of coming here. "Why did we come here? For you to drown in this lake? Hinata - you did something incredibly foolish. You could have died, if not for that fool Naruto." Sasuke shook his head, as if the intent of the gods and his sister was beyond his ken.

Too tired to object, Hinata merely sat, absorbing his scorn.

"You were always weak. You never learned how to swim. Why would you do something like that?"

"Because I had to save that boy. Mottainai. Mother and Father would have wanted that," she was finally moved to explain.

Sasuke sucked in his breath, saving his breath for another topic. "Now we're going to have to do something about Naruto." He frowned. "I'll have to speak to him. Perhaps give him a large gift. Surely, he could do with something. Maybe some money."

"Sasuke, that's too crass!" objected Hinata, horrified.

"He is crass. That's what his kind understands."

"Naruto has a good heart, and giving him money for that would be wrong," she defended.

"Fine, fine, fine," Sasuke snorted, obviously uninterested in Naruto's virtues. "What would you suggest? Clothes?" he spread his hands wide.

"I'll speak to him," she said, wondering what exactly she could say to Naruto, but knowing that Sasuke could not be the one to talk to him.

"Give him whatever he wants. Just don't do anything stupid like giving him a sword or an income," Sasuke warned.

"Why not?" Hinata asked.

"Do you know what his dream is?" Sasuke sneered. "To become the lord of a great castle. A nothing like that. Becoming a Hyuuga samurai would only add to his delusions."

* * *

That evening, tired, yet unable to sleep, Hinata walked by the children's house. Through the window, she saw Tenten off in a corner, holding a sleeping Haruki in her lap. Hinata meant to just pass by when Tenten looked up and motioned for Hinata to come inside.

Hinata knelt down near Tenten, and asked, "How is he?"

Softly, Tenten replied, "Alive and well, because of you. Thank you."

Embarrassed, Hinata said, "It wasn't me. It was Naruto."

"I don't know how to repay you or Naruto for my son." Tears formed in the corners of Tenten's brown eyes.

"I did nothing," Hinata repeated, abashed.

"Haruki - he is the most precious person in this world to me." They both paused to look at Haruki, who stirred, reaching for something, and then stilled, having grabbed the front of his mother's shirt. "He is so beautiful," Tenten sighed.

Hinata agreed.

"Like his father," Tenten whispered, delicately stroking Haruki's fine brown hair.

Hinata gave voice to a question that had bothered her ever since she had made the connection between mother and son. "Where is Haruki's father?"

Matter-of-factly, Tenten replied, "Dead. Before Haruki was born."

"I'm sorry - " Hinata was mortified.

"Don't be sorry," Tenten said softly. "He was a warrior who found his own destiny. Haruki's father - he said life in his family was no life for a man looking to create his own way. After he found out about my pregnancy, he was going to introduce me to his family, and we were going away together, back to Mongolia. Then-" Tenten stopped, her expression wistful.

Hinata looked at Tenten, openly sympathetic.

"And then I came here," she finished. Unprompted, Tenten added, "I almost died while giving birth - Tsunade kept me and Haruki alive. I owe her everything."

"I'm sorry," Hinata said, at a loss.

"Don't be sorry," Tenten repeated. "He gave me Haruki, Tsunade saved my life, and now you, and Naruto, have given me another chance with my son."

After a moment, Hinata said, "You once said that I was nothing like you imagined I would be. Why did you say that?"

"Haruki's father, he belonged to - " Tenten paused, fumbling, "- a family like yours. He told me a lot about that family. A lot of bad things. I never would have guessed that someone like you - from a family like that - would have saved a stranger."

"He didn't know me."

Tenten's eyes were thoughtful. "No, I don't think he did."

* * *

"A girl!" exclaimed Naruto as Tenten approached the fighting circle, carrying an enormous knapsack.

"Watch it," Kiba warned. "She'll put you in your place."

Politely, as if she hadn't heard Naruto's outburst, Tenten bowed towards Iruka. "If I may join you?"

Chouji, burst forth with an "Of course!" Immediately, he glanced at Iruka and Jiraiya, chagrined. "If I may say so."

Iruka nodded. "You are indeed welcome."

Tenten dropped her bag and reached for the simple, serviceable sword at her side, when Iruka halted her.

"We only use wood weapons."

Nodding, she reached into her pack and pulled out a 3-segmented wooden staff, each section connected with a short length of chain.

Iruka's eyebrows rose, but he nodded in respect.

"What is that?" asked Naruto.

"Sanjiegun," Tenten replied. "You ready?"

Naruto took a position. Tenten watched him, shoulders relaxed, eyes watchful. After a moment, he struck.

She easily blocked the first blows, then lightly, lithely, she leaped into the air, easily avoiding another strike, landing as easily as a cat. Then she kicked out her leg and tripped him, bringing up the end pieces of her sanjiegun to beat him about the head and neck. Flattened on the ground, Naruto struggled to his feet.

"Stay down!" Iruka suggested, impressed by Tenten's prowess.

Tenten proceeded to defeat all the other participants, and Iruka's astonishment grew. How would a woman mercenary from China ever learn skills like that? At the end of the session, with the greatest respect, Iruka did ask. Tenten said, "In my homeland, I was a warrior - not a sword for hire. I have trained my whole life, and dedicated myself to the discipline of war. I came here to learn from, and fight with, the best this country had."

As they picked up to leave, something clanked dully in Tenten's pack.

"What is that?" Kiba asked, not paying particular attention as Akamaru snuffled, nosing the opening of the bag.

Swiftly, Tenten pulled the bag away from the Akamaru.

"Akamaru!" Kiba exclaimed, kneeing the dog away. "You are so rude! I'm sorry, Tenten."

Akamaru whined softly, large eyes looking pleadingly at Kiba for forgiveness.

"It's something that's been broken a long time. Nothing to worry about," she said, trying to brush it off.

"Can I have a look at it?" Chouji asked, diffidently.

"It's okay, Chouji. I don't mind -" Tenten started.

"Aw, c'mon!" urged Naruto, not a whit put off by his recent beating at her hands. "Chouji's the best apprentice blacksmith in Konoha!"

Chouji cleared his throat, embarrassed. "Naruto, I'm the only apprentice blacksmith in Konoha."

"-Besides, no one should have to carry around something broken like that!"

Reluctantly, Tenten handed Chouji a battered flail, the chain connecting the long handle and the rake-like end was broken and rusty.

"Oh, oh," muttered Chouji to himself, his meaty, calloused hands touching the metal with the delicacy of a butterfly. "Hn."

"What?" Tenten asked, worried, peering at the spots that Chouji seemed most focused on.

"Nothing - nothing. It's blood, isn't it?"

Tenten nodded, reluctantly, "Yes."

A low rumble that was felt more than heard emanated from Chouji's great being. "Blood is really corrosive, especially if left for any length of time," he muttered to himself. He tsked. "No good for the metal at all." Despite being so large, Chouji often seemed disappear into the background. But now, he seemed to radiate a tremendous amount of energy. As he concentrated, it seemed impossible to look away from the object of his focus. He abruptly nodded, his shaggy chestnut-colored hair moving emphatically. "I think I can fix this, but I'll need a little time." He looked anxiously at Tenten. "If that's okay?"

Hesitantly, she replied, "Yes. If you cannot fix it, please, just give it back."

"I can fix it," he said, quietly confident.

* * *

When Hinata walked into Tsunade's herb gardens a few mornings later, almost literally running into Naruto, she caught her breath.

He was sitting on the ground, his head bent forwards, eyes shut. The sunlight filtered through the trees to touch his hair, casting fine shadows down across his features. Her long illness had spared her vision - so much so that she could detect the traces his eyelashes made across his cheekbones, and the faint whisker-like scars on his cheeks. He had lost much of the knife-like sharpness of hunger, but his face would always be angular, his frame turning from bony to lean, and tautly muscled. But nothing would change his ebullient regard for life, his bursts of humor, his kindness. Regardless of the deplorable condition of his clothes, his low status and poverty, his rough manners and impetuousness, Hinata felt as drawn to him as a lodestone to the North Star, with a force as mysterious and inexorable as the approach of dawn.

Suddenly, his head straightened up as his eyes opened. He looked deeply sad and immensely vulnerable, the blue eyes pensive and soft. There she was, caught in his gaze, as startled as one of Konoha's deer. Before she could put words to the thought of this being the other side of his wide grins - his expression vanished in a blink, his smile flashing to greet her.

"Good morning, Hinata. What're you doing in Tsunade's gardens?"

She smiled back, she couldn't help it. Nervously, she covered the lower part of her face with a hand. Looking down, she said, "I'm supposed to be meeting Ino, the daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka. This is her garden of healing herbs." She peeked at him. "What are you doing here?"

"Meditating. Iruka and Jiraiya think it's a good thing - but I don't know that it helps me learn how to do anything at all."

"If I'm disturbing you, I can wait outside." Hinata retreated a few steps, halting when she heard his next words.

"Stay," he said. "It's no trouble." He got up, stretching luxuriously, scratching his sides while he did so. "I was just sitting."

Her heart beat within her ribcage - as frantically as a tiny bird's wings beating against a cage.

"I can go," he offered, and stepped towards the gate.

After a lifetime of subduing herself to the men in her family, Hinata's body involuntarily sidled over to make room for Naruto as he walked by and then out of the garden.

Her lips moved, but no sound came out. _Stay. Please._

His steps slowed for a moment, and then he turned towards her, his words suddenly hurried and nervous. "I found the blacksmith here in Konoha - he's really busy, but his son, Chouji, is the finest assistant blacksmith in Japan, and he needs some practice making swords, so I thought it would be okay if he made them for us."

Hinata, her breath caught in her chest, hardly heard the words. _Us._

His paused, uncertainty showing through his brash manner. "Is that okay? I was going to wait until he was ready but since I saw you - "

Hinata blinked. "Of course."

He grabbed her hands in excitement. "That's great! Just wait till you see what Chouji's got planned for us! It'll help me protect you better!" With a final little shake, he released her and left the garden.

 _Us. Help me. Protect you._

When Ino arrived a moment later, breathless, apologizing for being late, she found Hinata in a daze.

"Are you okay?" Ino asked.

Hinata nodded, a little too quickly, as if taken off-balance by some interior earthquake.

* * *

"What is it?" Naruto asked Shikamaru and Kiba, at the sudden whining and keening of Akamaru, who shied away from a stand of trees deep in the woods, tail between his legs. The three of them were out on a routine patrol through the woods around Konoha. This was the first time Naruto had ever seen Akamaru behave like this.

Kiba grabbed a hold of Akamaru's ruff with both hands, looking the dog in the face, trying to calm him down.

"Something is funny about this area," Kiba said, after Akamaru settled down to a tiny whine in the back of his throat. He looked up into the skeptical faces of his friends. "Yes, he talks to me!" Kiba declared, loudly, defensively.

Shikamaru frowned. "That's strange. Nobody goes by here, it's too far from the road. There's just this little animal track we're on."

Naruto offered, "Some of the recent visitors to the village have talked about bandits around the far side of the forest. Do you think that could be it?"

Kiba squatted down to inspect the earth, looking for the faintest traces of human disturbance. He raised his face into the wind and sniffed deeply. Naruto sniffed as well, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Suddenly, Kiba grimaced in distaste. He disappeared behind a wall of waving fronds and leaves. Some minutes later, he shouted, "Shikamaru!"

Naruto crashed through the underbrush behind Shikamaru's expert tread, coming to a halt only after bumping directly into Shikamaru. Kiba gestured to a clearing just ahead. There lay the mutilated bodies of several birds, their crushed skeletons and broken heads exposed to the air. Feathers lay scattered all over the bushes. Naruto nearly gagged at the putrid smell.

"Let's get out of here," Kiba muttered, his face a mask of disgust.

Several steps out, a fresh breeze stirred the leaves around them.

"Can you track anybody who might have done this?" Naruto asked.

Kiba disappeared, Akamaru at his side. Naruto and Shikamaru looked around, scanning the brush, looking for anything unusual. Momentarily, he returned, shaking his head. "Any traces are long gone. I'll ask to the dog patrols go out on some extra surveys."

"Who do you think did it?" Naruto asked.

Kiba said, "It could have been anybody. Maybe those bandits, but I can't tell."

"Are bandits usually something to be worried about?" Naruto wondered.

"Konoha is a small healer's village. We don't have a standing army or big walls - not like a castle - so we look more vulnerable. And everybody has to fight." Shikamaru shrugged, "I can't remember the last time it happened."

"A long time ago - just after Tsunade won the village. She always said that winning that bet was the worst luck for her," Kiba reminded him.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"Tsunade won the village she grew up in and all the land around it on a bet with the daimyo. Only thing she's ever won. Anyway, she thought she really lost the bet because there she was, having to take care of property she didn't want when she was happy being a simple healer," Shikamaru explained.

* * *

As the first moisture of the morning was disappearing from the leaves, Hinata, Sakura and Karin approached the front door of Jiraiya's and Naruto's small house, the last bearing a large-cloth wrapped bundle. Karin and Sakura turned to Hinata, obviously waiting for her to form a greeting. As Hinata seemed to be stricken with silence, Sakura cleared her throat and called out, "Good morning? Hello?"

There came the sound of something heavy dropping to the floor, and some muffled swearing, followed by several metallic clanks, then some dull thuds and even more swearing.

Finally, the door was cracked open by Jiraiya. "Hello, ladies," he answered, his voice thick and his silver hair still disheveled from the night's sleep.

Hinata bobbed a nervous bow and said, "I hope I'm not disturbing you? I was hoping to see Naruto." She reached for the bundle.

From behind Jiraiya's large form, Naruto appeared, his kosode sloppily tied. "Hello?" And as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, it gaped open to reveal a smooth bare sternum of golden skin and a series of bandages beneath.

"Oh! Good morning, Naruto," Hinata said, blushing bright red, bringing up the bundle to hide her face.

"Good morning, Hinata," Naruto said with a grin, obviously pleased to see her. Then he looked down at himself. Gasping at his display, he hastily turned his back to retie his robe and obi.

Karin and Sakura looked pityingly at their mistress, who seemed unable to recover.

As the quiet stretched awkwardly, Karin finally spoke, a little irritated. "We have come on an errand."

"Come on in!" urged Jiraiya, getting up from the small platform at the entryway. "I could get some tea started - "

"Oh, no," Hinata demurred, still crimson. She thrust the bundle towards Naruto, eyes still on the ground. "For you."

Naruto took the bundle and untied it, pulling out two full-length robes - one of blue and orange for everyday, the second a rich damask of red and white. They were simply but meticulously embroidered with the kamon of the Hyuuga, the needlework incredibly fine.

"Oh, thank you -" his surprised voice cut off as Hinata dropped to her knees and kowtowed to him, her forehead against the ground, Sakura and Karin following. "For saving my life, and that of Haruki. I could never repay you."

Hinata gathered herself up and then stood. Karin and Sakura also got up. She bowed slightly from the waist, ever so lightly brushed at the lower half of her robe, and made to leave, obviously relieved the errand was over.

"These are great - but I don't - " Naruto began, foundering, holding the robes, his arms extended toward Hinata's quickly retreating figure.

Jiraiya jostled him into silence. "Don't refuse a gift from a lady," advised the older man, with a little shake of his head. "Especially since you need some new clothes anyway."

Turning, Sakura added, "She put in every stitch herself, with her own two hands; starting from the very first day after you saved her. You have to accept."

Naruto continued to stare at Hinata's form until it disappeared into her house, and then he looked down at the clothes. He had never owned anything half so nice, and none made with the care and attention to detail of these garments.

With some clanking and banging, Jiraiya got the tea ready, whistling a little between his teeth. Jiraiya looked over the robes, and then back over to his student with such intent, Naruto was determined to ignore it.

Finally, unable to bear the suspense, Naruto planted himself in front of Jiraiya and exclaimed, "What!"

"I've known some women in my day, but I've never had one suit me up this fine," Jiraiya said with a trace of envy.

"So?"

"You need to be careful, Naruto. I know the promise you made to Hinata - and it comes from your heart, and she seems like a nice girl, but still, you never know about the family. If I had a mon for every incident of family interference between me and a lady, I'd - "

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto rolled his eyes. "You'd have sack full of ryo, I know, I know." He carefully folded the robes up, a fingertip lightly brushing the seams before finally packing them up altogether.

Seriously, Jiraiya said, "I know this is not likely, but if you're thinking about attaining your dream of a castle through marriage to a Hyuuga - don't do it. A man who marries for money earns every penny."

Astonished, Naruto's eyes widened. "I could never marry someone for money - I didn't save Hinata's life because I want money from her. There's nothing I want from her. She's - " he paused, painfully unable to put into words how he felt; the protection he wanted to extend to her to keep her from any harm, the dreams he had of making her happy, of making her laugh, of delighting her with his poor wit and non-existent literary skills. He didn't need anyone to point out the irony of him, of all people, wanting to give Hinata, the wealthiest person he had ever met, anything and everything she desired.

"She's what?" prompted Jiraiya.

Naruto looked out the door towards Hinata's house, unconsciously sighing. "She's too good for me."

* * *

"Is it true?" Sasuke asked, not even bothering with a greeting as he stepped into the little dwelling. "Is there going to be a sword for Naruto?"

Almost guiltily, Hinata nodded.

"I have accepted your whims to this point, Hinata, but this is going too far." Sasuke reprimanded her, "I told you what his dream was - to become a great leader of a great castle! Maybe he thinks to attain it through you. Why not invite a snake into your bed?"

Hinata flushed. "It's not like that."

Sasuke looked at Hinata, visibly checking himself as he eyed her pallor, her still-fragile appearance. "Of course not." Neither of them needed to remind the other that Hinata's true attractions lay in her family's wealth and position. "Still, you can't just promise anything to someone like that. He is nothing - no breeding, no history, nothing! We don't know anything about him."

"He has pledged his loyalty to me, Sasuke."

Sasuke snorted. "What does his sort know about loyalty?"

"He saved my life! He saved the life of that little boy!" Hinata argued with some heat.

"That does not imply any loyalty - it's only being in the right place at the right time," Sasuke sniffed. "You need to leave him behind. He would be a stain in the service of the Hyuuga."

She summoned the courage from deep inside, looked at Sasuke and said, "Saving my life means something - if only to me, and besides, it is too late. I have agreed, and the Akimichis have already begun making Naruto's sword."

"There is something so different about you now, Hinata. I don't think you are the same as the person who left Hyuuga Castle." He gazed at her, his black eyes, like a moonless night, searching for the answer of the change within her.

Hinata met his look with her own, wondering what had happened to their bond, how it had ended up so broken. When they were children, they were so close, people had called them the Hyuuga twins. She gave voice to a question that had plagued her for a long time, but had never been able to give voice to until now. "I might have changed, but you did too. Sasuke, what happened? When did we stop being friends?"

For the briefest moment, she thought she saw a matching sadness, and then it was gone, replaced by some inner resolution. "When I learned how different we were," he said coolly, and turned away.

* * *

Sasuke's refusal to join Iruka's informal training sessions bothered Iruka much more than it bothered Naruto. Naruto just moved to challenging him on every possible opportunity. Occasionally, Sasuke took him up on it, if only to prove that he was better. Today was one such day.

"Do you want to fight?" Naruto confronted Sasuke.

"You want to lose?" Sasuke returned.

"I want to win," Naruto retorted.

They faced off across a dusty area, partly surrounded by large piles of rocks. Sasuke immediately went for a fast draw and slash, which Naruto countered neatly. As Naruto was collecting himself for the next move, Sasuke moved in as fast as a snake striking, grabbed him by his collar and drubbed the yellow-hair soundly about the head with his bokken.

"That's the problem with you, dummy. You always relax before the end of the match you think you're winning. False anticipation is my way to win against you," Sasuke taunted.

Provoked, Naruto answered back. "Come on then, let's see if you can catch me again."

At Sasuke's approach, Naruto backed up, and finding himself at the edge of the rock piles, stepped up and backwards. As Sasuke advanced, Naruto tripped, but instead of falling, he shifted, using his momentum to jump toward Sasuke. It wasn't pretty, but it was effective, as Naruto rushed in sideways, catching Sasuke's shoulder.

"The problem with you is you are always perfect. You expect your opponents to be just like you. You never leave room for the unexpected," Naruto snapped.

But he paid for noting the breach, as Sasuke beat him soundly in the next series of bouts.

"You are not good enough to protect Hinata," Sasuke declared, dropping his bokken.

"I will be," Naruto replied, undaunted, color high on his cheeks.

"You and that dream - " Sasuke derided, "There is no way you can achieve it."

"The more I speak my dream, the more real it is to me, the more it reminds me of what I must achieve," Naruto defended. "What's your dream?"

Sasuke paused, puzzled. "Why?"

"Are you afraid?," Naruto dared. "Do you think that to speak your dream is to make it less real?"

"No," Sasuke contradicted. "I don't have a dream. I have a reality. I have a duty. I will crush the enemies of my family, or die trying."

Even though some of the Hyuuga samurai nodded in agreement, Naruto looked startled at the starkness of Sasuke's words. "You don't dream?"

"No." Sasuke shrugged. "It a waste of energy."

A strange pity filled Naruto's eyes. "A man without a dream," he said to himself. "You have almost everything but dreams."

"It's better than you - you've got nothing but dreams!"

Naruto shook his head, Sasuke's words bouncing off of him harmlessly. "Without dreams, there is nothing worth living for."

He limped off, with a few samurai stepping forward to give him some words of encouragement in his next bout. "After all," one commented, "it helps keep all of us on our toes!"

"He really is getting better," Kakashi lazily commented to Sasuke, who stood off to the side, nursing his sore arm. "It wouldn't hurt you to be a good sport and say something."

"Who do you work for?" snapped Sasuke, nettled.

"Well," drawled Kakashi with the security of a long-time retainer, "I imagine I will continue to serve the family that my father and my father's father did."

* * *

Naruto hobbled over to the main women's and children's healing house, wincing in pain, as he did every time he faced Sasuke in bokken practice. He had discovered that Tsunade had some foul-smelling liniment that helped soothe the soreness, but it might require some cajoling on his part for her to part with any of it. Happily, he saw the object of his pursuit standing in front, with Shizune, Sakura, and Kurenai.

" -the old priestess, Masako, has a big part in it - you should ask her about what happens every year during Midsummer Festival."

"Interesting," Kurenai murmured, nodding. "I will."

"Tsunade - " Naruto called ahead, grimacing as a particularly painful area throbbed. "Could I have some of that ointment? Oh, sorry," he said, too late in noticing his interruption of their conversation.

"I'll go get it," Kurenai said, opening the door and heading towards the back where the large, many-drawered medicine cabinet sat.

Unthinkingly, Naruto followed her into the house.

Sakura and Hinata looked up from their kneeling positions at a table with some children. The children, with the ease of great familiarity, jumped up and surrounded Naruto, squealing out his name, clamoring for his attention, for piggy-back rides, for games. He began to tease them, calling each one by name but more often substituting a nickname of his own devising, "Hijiki, Freckles, Yumi, Shorty, Princess, Cow-eyes - "

Sakura looked at Naruto, exasperated. "What did you do this time? Honestly, why don't you men take better care of yourselves? Don't you know you're already covered in bruises? Besides, don't you know men aren't allowed in here?"

"Sakura, why do you have to always act like it's my fault?" Naruto complained, unable to respond to the barrage of questions and fend off a small army of children at the same time. He attempted step out of the room, hampered by having a child firmly clamped onto each leg.

"Because it usually is," Sakura returned smartly. "Then you come here always wanting someone - me, Kurenai - maybe someday you'll even ask Lady Hinata - to patch you up." She continued to scold him like an elder sister. "You spar with Sasuke again? You know he always beats you."

"Yes," a cool voice came in from the doorway. Sasuke stood at the threshold, holding his arm gingerly.

As Naruto approached the entry, the children dropped back, giving Sasuke a wide berth.

"Oh!" Sakura fluttered towards Sasuke, her briskly efficient manner melting like butter under Sasuke's black gaze. "If you would wait in your rooms, Lord Sasuke, I'll go get something for you right away!"

Sasuke took in the mob of children, grimaced, turned and left.

"Good morning, Naruto," Hinata said softly, standing to gather the children again.

He turned. "Hey, Hinata." He tried to smile, then stopped, his face starting to swell from being hit so hard.

"You're very good with children," Hinata commented.

Naruto shrugged. "It's easy. I believe in their dreams, and they believe in mine. If they say they're going to be a healer like Tsunade, or a great farmer like Inoichi, then I want to encourage them."

"Do they encourage you?"

"Yes. Sometimes," he said, backtracking. "They think that being a great leader, swordsman and scholar, might be too much for me, but Shorty said they just want me to dream something I can attain." Bashfully, he said, "The children like you too."

Hinata looked surprised, then pleased. "Thank you. I didn't know anything about children when we came here, but I am learning every day. They're wonderful."

"Even the babies like you. I think they like your face."

She blushed rosily, putting up a hand to cover the small smile that had begun on her lips.

Kurenai came up and handed Naruto a small laquered container. "Don't open it!" she warned, but it was too late.

He did so, and the fumes that came off it immediately set his eyes to watering. "That's the good stuff." He hastily re-covered the little box.

"What happened this time?" Hinata asked, a little relieved and a little sad that Kurenai appeared. Naruto had fallen off ladders while helping to re-tile the roof of the temple, he had pulled a muscle carrying something for the blacksmith and challenging Chouji to a weight-lifting contest, he had burned himself on the cook's fire, he had cut himself on some of the farm tools. Yet he always healed up very quickly with little if any scarring. As much as she was alarmed with each new incident, she couldn't help but hide a smile when he told her the latest story - he had such a funny way of explaining even the most awful circumstance. He had said that he wasn't clumsy, only really, really eager to finish the job.

"Just a little sword practice with Sasuke."

"I hope it wasn't too painful for either of you?"

"Nah," Naruto said. After a moment, he blurted, "I can't believe he's your brother. You two are nothing alike."

"He's not."

"Of course he's nothing like you - you're nice, and he's such a jerk. He's this mean cold guy, and you're so - not. How's that happen in a family?"

Hinata paused, and it was only in her silence that he stopped to listen. "He's really not my brother."

Naruto goggled. "What do you mean he's 'not really' your brother?"

"He was adopted by my parents. He was a distant cousin who was already living with us."

"Why?"

"Mottainai," she whispered.

"What?" Naruto said, looking as if he hadn't heard her.

"Mottainai. If it is wasteful to throw away food, how much more wasteful would it be to throw away a blameless human life?"

"How did you find out?"

"It happens sometimes when there isn't a direct male heir. My father also adopted my first cousin, Neji, after my mother died." She said matter-of-factly, "Besides, we are the same age, separated only by a few months. It did not take long to figure out."

Astounded, Naruto asked, "Do you think Sasuke knows?"

"I don't know. Nobody really talks about it. I can't remember life without Sasuke - he - "

"Hinata," called Tenten from the door, her earlier formality much eased in recent days. On her back rode Haruki, who reached for Hinata. "I'm glad to find you - and Naruto, you too. Haruki seemed really fussy yesterday - and he called out your name when he couldn't find you -"

As Hinata took Haruki into her arms, the little boy grinned widely, his pale slate-colored eyes mirroring the smile in Hinata's own.

Naruto tickled Haruki under his chin, making him laugh that robust toddler laugh. "It's like the two of you had a baby," he teased, eyes twinkling.

Hinata chuckled politely, but it was Tenten's reaction that really stood out. "Why would you say that?" asked Tenten tensely, her eyes wide in shock.

"Sorry. I dunno - it just seemed funny," Naruto said, shrugging.

"Naruto - do you need anymore help?" asked Kurenai, gently urging him out of the children's house.

"Ah, no," he replied, abashed, and took his leave.

* * *

"You look well," Sasuke said to Sakura as she entered his rooms, carrying a small bag of healing supplies.

"Thank you, Lord Sasuke," Sakura said, touched that he had noticed. She laid out the bandages and ointments on a table as Sasuke slid his upper body out of his kosode, revealing an old circular keloidal scar on one shoulder, the area which had been irritated by his fighting with Naruto.

"Hinata, too, is looking well. Thanks to your care."

"Yes, I believe Lady Hinata is nearly cured - mostly because of Kurenai and Mistress Tsunade."

"Even after that foolish near-drowning incident?"

Sakura smiled at his wry comment, knowing he did not intend it cruelly. It was just that Sasuke had trouble understanding simple human failings, being such a genius, that was all. She looked at his arm, thinking he just needed some wrapping to keep it steady while it healed. "Your shoulder again? It's been so long - two years - and it seems to heal and then get worse. Now, I thought it was getting better," she tsked. She probed the area where the skin was stretched thin next to the keloid. "How's that feel?"

"A little itchy - and it burns a little - but - "

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I've got some cream that might help."

"It's nothing," Sasuke said. "Tell me, what you think of Naruto Uzumaki? I'm afraid he is getting too involved in the family affairs. Karin told me about the gifts Hinata made him."

Sakura's lips compressed into a thin line as she considered what else Karin might have told Sasuke. "I think it is appropriate," she said, carefully. "Naruto did save her life."

"I told Hinata to get him some new clothes - I just didn't expect her to make them herself."

Surprised, Sakura cocked her head to one side to take a better look at Sasuke. "Really? What else could she have done?"

"Just settle some money on him. Like any mercenary."

"You don't like him because he's just like you," Sakura blurted.

Sasuke swung towards Sakura, his expression fierce. "What do you mean?"

"Both of you are so driven and you have this rivalry - a need for rivalry - " she fumbled to explain, worried it was all coming out wrong.

"It's not much of a rivalry. It's all on his side." A small triumphant look grew in his eyes. "He's really starting to get better at swordsmanship, but there's no way he'll ever beat me." After a moment, he asked, "When do you think we could leave Konoha?"

Sakura ventured, "Midsummer? Mistress Tsunade said something like that. Well, on the bright side, it'll be good to go home." Not hearing an answer, Sakura looked up to find Sasuke looking deeply troubled. She ventured, "Won't it be good to go back home?"

"There is so much to do back at Castle Hyuuga," he said, looking, fleetingly, sad and weary.

"Don't you want to return?"

His face settled back into his usual sardonic lines. "Of course."

Sakura tugged on the bandage one last time. "There," she said, "I think that will stay. Just keep it wrapped for a few days and it should be well."

He strained against it slightly, then nodded. "Very good." He slipped his arm back into the sleeve.

She packed up. "If there isn't anything else, I'll say, good afternoon, Lord Sasuke."

As she turned to leave, Sasuke called to her, "Thank you, Sakura. I - "

Sakura paused at the door, expectant.

Sasuke shook his head. "Just thank you."

A little unsure, Sakura bobbed her head briefly and left.

* * *

"Hey, guys," called Naruto, preoccupied. He addressed the group, some who were sitting on the ground, pleasantly tired after a practice session, others were packing up. Tenten had already gone to pick up Haruki. "What exactly happens on Midsummer?"

"Eh," Shikamaru said, unenthusiastically. "I climb a tree and hide."

Chouji grinned. "You always climb a tree and hide."

"Then it's good that it's part of the ceremony!" Shikamaru rebutted.

Kiba said, "Midsummer festival is fun. The men climb trees -"

"They only do it to hide from the women -"

Kiba gave Shikamaru a good shove. "And the women do dances at night. Musicians come, and the big drums from the temple come out."

Lee added, "There's a lot of good food, some traveling actors - it's a really good festival."

Chouji said, "And then there's the bamboo grove wishes."

"Oh, yeah," said Kiba, nodding.

"What's that?" asked Naruto.

"A week before the festival, you write a wish on a slip of paper and tie to it to some bamboo in the grove," Kiba explained.

Lee added, "It's best to write for better abilities that will help the village. Or good hand-writing."

Shikamaru said, dismissively, "Girls will write down the names of boys they like."

Kiba gave Shikamaru a wolfish look. "It's only because you don't have your name written down very much. Unlike some of us."

"Boys can write down girls' names too," Chouji said, wistfully. For some reason, all the males halted and looked at Chouji awkwardly, as if he had revealed too much.

"Yeah, they can," Shikamaru said, unusually gently, and patted Chouji on the back.

* * *

"I did not come here to slave for Konoha!" she reminded him, outraged.

"You need to wait - "

"What for what? What could be different? You can't undo everything that's already done, what I've done. What about everything you promised to me? All the wrongs we were to right?"

They stared at each other, the weight of their conspiracy hanging heavy between them.

Finally, she accused, "Sasuke, you have forgotten who you are and what your purpose is."

* * *

After practice one day, Chouji gently offered Tenten the repaired weapon with both hands. "Here's the flail."

Tenten seemed taken aback. "Is this the same one I gave you?"

Chouji blinked, confused. "Yes. I would never not do something I gave my word on."

Tenten shook her head. "It's just that, it feels so much nicer," she gripped the handle firmly and gave it a gentle shake. "You didn't just fix it - you remade it!" Her eyes picked up the new grip, the entirely new links on the chain, the freshly wrought taps at the end of the flail. "Chouji - you shouldn't have! It must have been so much work!"

Under his ruddy complexion, Chouji blushed a deep crimson. "It was nothing. Good practice."

"If there is something I can do for you - "

"Oh, no," Chouji refused. "No, no. I like to fix things."

"You'll tell me if there's something? Won't you?"

"Yes," he said, looking nervous. "Tell me why you never got this fixed before?"

Tenten blinked. Then she squared her shoulders, as if preparing for a great battle. "This was a reminder to me."

"What?"

"There was someone who was very important to me. And I saw him cut down from the back - by someone he called brother - he didn't want me in the battle at all - so I could not - I could not -" her voice stopped as she struggled to gain self-control. "I could not save him." She drew in a quavering breath. "This was to remind me of my failure - my weakness - and to never fail again. But," she said, forcing brightness in her voice, holding the flail, "I can not fail with this."

Chouji looked at her, questions bursting out of him, but afraid to speak. "I didn't want you to remember pain - " Chouji said, regretful, overcome by the short tale. He cleared his suddenly dry throat. "Weren't you afraid for your life?"

"No," Tenten said. "I was too far away from the fight."

"Will you try to avenge this - this person?"

"When it happened, my first thought was to spend the rest of my life in getting revenge. But- "

"But?"

Unconsciously, she pressed a hand against her lower abdomen. "I couldn't. I was carrying Haruki." A solemn softness lit her from within. "Taking care of the life that was given to me was so much more important than revenge. I could not poison the life of my son, my most precious person, with hatred."

"You are the strongest person I know," he said, awed.

She shook her head, "I haven't forgotten, Chouji. I can't. But I can choose to free my son of ghostly burdens."

From a distance, they both heard Naruto yelling for Chouji. "I've got to go." He bowed his head, "Forgive me."

* * *

MIDSUMMER

It was a beautiful late afternoon, if hot and humid, with the sunset was quickly approaching. Hinata had been waiting anxiously until she was certain she would be alone in the bamboo grove before she finally entered, a small slip of paper and some string in her hands. There looked to have been any number of other people who had made wishes already, given the number of tanzaku limply hanging against the bamboo branches.

"Hey, Hinata!"

She turned, slowly. She knew that voice. Naruto stood nearby, in his hand a piece of paper.

"You here to tie up your wish?" he asked eagerly.

There was nowhere for her to hide. She would just have to brazen it out. "Yes," she said.

"Oh, what're you wishing for?" He tried to look at her paper.

Hinata flushed, moving her hand slightly so the paper turned over. "Just - just for improvement in my embroidery."

"Your embroidery? It's already excellent, Hinata! Even Jiraiya said so." Quieter, he explained, "I've never gotten a gift like that before."

They both looked at his clothing, aware that he was not wearing the new robes.

"They're too nice for me," he said, sheepish. "I've never had anything so nice before. I'm afraid I'll make them all dirty."

"But they are for you to wear - it doesn't matter if they get dirty." He edged over slightly to try to read her slip of paper. She stepped to one side. Feeling a need to change the subject, she quickly asked, "Naruto, what're you wishing for?"

"This?" He grinned self-consciously, putting the paper behind his back. "I wished for better handwriting. Yours is so beautiful, I can't show mine to you."

"Oh," she said, a little disappointed. Rallying, she smiled. "I know you will get your wish," she asserted.

"You do?"

"Yes, you work so hard, I'm sure that you will do nothing but improve."

"Thanks! I'm sure you'll get yours too!" he enthused. "I mean, even better than before!"

They looked at each other a moment. Realizing that Naruto wouldn't tie his tanzaku before she tied hers, Hinata quickly tied up her paper and strategically placed herself in front so he couldn't read it. He slowly approached her, and a drum began to beat a frantic tattoo in her head.

"So, Hinata, I have to ask you something."

Heart pounding, Hinata replied, "Yes?"

"Can I have some string? I forgot some."

She offered him her small skein.

"Thanks!" He tied his tanzaku a little sloppily with an overabundance of thread, trying to keep it written-side down. With his extremely white teeth, he snipped the end and gave the silk back. "So, uh, I'll see you at the festival."

"Yes. I've never been to one before - I was always too ill. It will be exciting."

"I've been to plenty," Naruto boasted. He paused, "I was always working, though. Festivals are great for actors."

When they realized neither was going to leave before the other, Hinata and Naruto looked at each other awkwardly, chuckling. "I'll walk you to the village," he offered, finally.

She ducked her head down shyly, and then smiled and nodded.

* * *

That evening, the bamboo grove was filled with tanzaku, their authors having written down their dearest desires for all to know. Some had written wishes for better abilities to help the village, others had short poems or had drawn pictures, still others merely had written a name.

Near each other hung two slips of paper on slender silk strands. One, in perfect, flowing script, read, "To be strong under the sun," and the other simply had written, in rickety, tilting-in-all directions script and tied with an excess of thread, "the moon, please." The wind gusted, entangling the two wishes together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The blacksmiths who forged samurai swords were held in high esteem. They worked directly for royalty, the government and feudal lords. Their abilities and talents were treasured and each sword was hand forged and crafted for an individual. The samurai sword was not considered to be just a weapon, but an extension of a man's honor, ego and pride." (website about the samurai sword)
> 
> mottainai = wasteful, but with many connotations. "It implies a moral authority that says "it is weak and tragic to waste something this way - how could you?" The Yomiuri Shimbun ran a recent editorial that addressed the concept of mottainai, and quoted several Japanese dictionaries, which better reflect the word's cultural context. Here's one: "A regrettable situation in which something is wasted without its value being fully utilized." " (from Gil Asakawa's Nikkei View)
> 
> uchikage = basically a bigger, fancier kosode worn as a coat
> 
> sanjiegun = three-sectional staff, triple staff, three-part staff, sansetsukon in Japanese, a Chinese flail weapon that consists of three wooden or metal staffs connected by metal rings or rope.
> 
> 4000 mon = 16 shu = 4 bu = 1 ryo (currency of Japan from 1336 until 1870)
> 
> Midsummer festival in Konoha I largely took from some summer festival traditions, including Tanabata, and I made up some as well. For Tanabata: "People often write wishes and romantic aspirations on long, narrow strips of coloured paper and hang them on bamboo branches along with other small ornaments. The festival originated from "The Festival to Plead for Skills" and was adopted in the Kyoto Imperial Palace from the Heian Period. The festival spread to the general public by the early Edo period, became mixed with various Obon or Bon traditions and developed into the modern Tanabata festival. In the Edo period, girls wished for better sewing and craftsmanship, and boys wished for better handwriting by writing wishes on strips of paper (tanzaku)" - sometimes in the form of poetry, sometimes with other decorations. (wikipedia)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Naruto and all affiliated characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This story is written without permission and for personal/fan/nonprofit entertainment purposes only.

The heat and the humidity of summer was something Hinata had never been very good at tolerating. By the looks of it, most everyone else seemed to be wilting and drooping in the sultry, soupy weather.

It was a rare moment that Sakura and Ino and Hinata could escape their duties to relax under the shade of a large tree at the edge of the village. Ino and Sakura sat, lazily fanning themselves. Hinata had long ago dispensed with tabi, and now left her sandals and fan on shore while she padded in the shallows of the great lake.

"It's so hot," Sakura said, heaving a great sigh.

"It's lightning warrior weather," Ino commented.

"What's lightning warrior weather?" Sakura asked.

Ino looked surprised. "Maybe it's just something we say here. It's the sort of weather that makes everybody mean. It's all hot and humid, then it rains with lots of lightning, and it's still hot and even more humid."

"I just heard Tsunade say something about it and to be careful. I guess the heat could be too much for some people."

"Maybe. But it's also the time we look out for bandits. The weather seems to bring them out, especially with such a good harvest coming," Ino said matter-of-factly. "At least, that's what my father says. It's never happened here that I can remember - but it has happened in lots of other villages around here this time of year." Deliberately changing the subject, she said, "Let me tell you about the Midsummer dance. It happens every year by the lake, and it's going to be in two days, when the full moon is out."

"A dance?" questioned Sakura.

"Come on, get up - take your fan with you."

Ino then demonstrated the women's dance, a moderately difficult dance of many steps that repeated. While Sakura and Hinata attempted it, Ino clapped out the beat.

"No, no," corrected Ino. "You start with your left foot. Let's do it again." After the third misstep, Ino stopped entirely.

"What's wrong now?" asked Sakura, who was becoming a little irritable.

"It's left, right, turn, wave fan," yelled Naruto, from the tree above them.

"Shut up!" hissed Shikamaru from a branch nearby. "You're giving us away!"

With a surprised cry, the girls looked upward. Ino actually flung a rock in his direction.

"Ow!" cried Shikamaru.

"Go away!" yelled Ino, arming herself with another rock.

"You go away," countered Shikamaru. "We were here first!"

"Just wait till I tell your mother!" Ino threatened.

"C'mon, Naruto - let's get out of here," Shikamaru grumbled. "It's getting too troublesome to stay."

After a moment, peering up through the trees to make sure the boys were gone, Sakura and Hinata tried again. As Ino counted out, "Left, right, turn - " Sakura twisted awkwardly and fell to her bottom.

Loud laughter erupted from above them. "I never said, left, right, turn, fall down!"

"Naruto!" groaned Shikamaru. "Stop giving us away!"

"If you can't go away, stop distracting them," scolded Ino, hurling the stone into the branches for good measure.

Sakura screeched, "If you're so critical, then you do it!"

"Okay," Naruto said, jumping down.

Ino, her face creased with mirth, handed Naruto a fan. The girls watched, fully prepared to laugh. But after the first few steps, their faces showed nothing but astonishment. Sakura's jaw dropped. In front of them, they watched the dance as performed by a woman, with all the grace and fluidity of a woman's body.

"How did you learn how to do that?" Ino asked, flabbergasted.

"Just now?" Naruto shrugged. "Jiraiya and I have to occasionally do roles as women." He paused, and opened the fan with a practiced flick of the wrist, then lifted up the fan flirtatiously to his eyes, his movements as coquettish as a courtesan's, one hand on a hip, head tilted girlishly to the side. "Not every story is about two men." He snapped the fan shut, dropped his hands and transformed back to a lean young man without a trace of femininity about him. "You should see Jiraiya play Ame-no-Uzume."

"I'll bet," muttered Ino. She heard a low chuckle above her. "You come down here, Shikamaru Nara!"

"There is no way I can dance better than Naruto," Shikamaru protested. Then he added, slyly, " - and neither can most women."

"What!" shrieked Sakura, outraged. "You will show me how you just did that," she demanded of Naruto.

Hinata stood up slowly, unprepared for when Naruto grabbed her hand, yanking her upright. She was incredibly self-conscious - feeling only the dirt beneath her bare feet and the mass of her hair, sliding untidily out of its paper ribbon. She was unaware of how her hair had begun to shine with health, and how her features had begun to soften from a convalescent stringiness into a delicate femininity which might draw an admiring eye.

"C'mon, Hinata, let's show 'em." With Naruto at her side, Hinata stepped through the dance, her blush growing. Her natural reticence was brushed aside as Ino continued to count out loud and an instinctive sense of rhythm came into play. She turned, twisted, and waved her fan, her steps becoming more confident with each beat.

Naruto turned his head towards her, his smile positively effervescent. They did not move any closer to each other than an arms-length apart, but she was completely aware of where he was and what movements he was making, down to the breaths he was taking. She felt as if they were moving in accord, their steps perfectly matched. It was a moment Hinata wished she could save, knowing it was as fluid and as transient as water cupped in a single hand.

After a moment of bobbing her head, and a first false step, Sakura stepped into line, a heavy frown over her eyebrows as she looked down at her feet and counted under her breath. After a few measures, she sighed with relief as she completed the dance without error. Then she smiled. "That wasn't so hard!"

Ino and Shikamaru continued to squabble in the background.

"You - ! You! Ohh! You just climb a tree already!"

Shikamaru laughed. "I'm already in one! Hey - "

A whistle shrilled across a particularly pregnant-looking series of clouds low in the sky. Ino and Shikamaru jerked into motion; Shikamaru dropped out of the tree and Ino hurridly picked up her sandals. "To the village, right now!" she commanded.

"What's happening?" asked Hinata, startled.

"Attack on the village!"

"Go to Tsunade's hut," panted Shikamaru, nervous sweat dripping off his face and neck, soaking the neckline of his robe as he raced for the village perimeter.

Naruto grabbed hold of Hinata's hand and started running.

"My lady!" Sakura exclaimed, turning back after running ahead, hampered by Hinata's slow progress.

"Go ahead, Sakura," Hinata huffed.

Naruto pulled her along, while Sakura and Ino fled ahead. It wasn't for very long, but Hinata ran as she couldn't ever remember running - desperately, so hard she could feel every step jarring her bones, and so fast there was no time to think about how much it hurt her bare feet.

Hinata had never seen the village look so full - residents and their children were everywhere, anxiously gathering their most precious belongings, releasing animals into the woods, putting out fires, securing their small homes.

After leaving her at Tsunade's hut, Naruto shot off to a far point in the village. Sasuke, Iruka and Kakashi were already there, alongside Shikaku, both of them kneeling in front of Tsunade. Shikaku breathlessly detailed the threat, "-maybe fifty men at arms, a handful on horses. Potentially enough to take the village, burn the fields so close to harvest time, and raze all the buildings."

Tsunade said, "We're going to have to muster all available men. What's our strategy?"

"We can line up archers in the trees, and lay a line of men across the main entry into the village. Shikamaru is gathering up the men. Chouji and Lee are getting together whatever weapons there are - knives, farm tools, flails, anything we have on hand. Chouza Akimichi said he had been stockpiling weapons for some time - so we'll see what we have. After that, there'll be fighting all over the village."

"We need to save the store houses and the fields, that's most likely what they'll be after. We've got to show these bandits no one attacks Konoha lightly." Tsunade faced Hinata and Sasuke. "It is good that the both of you are here - I'm asking for your men to help us, and stay and fight."

"Our men and horses are at your service," said Sasuke. Tsunade glanced at Hinata, who nodded vigorously.

Shikaku shook his head. "Don't want your horses."

Tsunade said, "Shizune will handle the evacuation - women, children and the elderly that can walk will escape over the hill. The infirm need to be moved to the temple. Masako will find room for them all. Perhaps Kurenai will assist her."

Sasuke turned to Iruka. "Take Hinata to escape with the women."

Hinata bowed her head to Sasuke and Tsunade, and headed back to her hut. On the way, a leather-gloved fist grasped Hinata's arm. "Wha -?" she began, looking at a suit of light leather and lacquered wooden armor, her eyes shooting up to the intimidating, face-covering helmet on top.

The gloves moved up and pulled the helmet came off, revealing Tenten looking as fierce and proud as any warrior Hinata had ever seen. Tenten declared, "I want you to take my son with you. Promise me."

Astonished, Hinata could only gape. Tenten gave Hinata's arm an impatient shake. "Promise me." Then, as if it cost her dearly, she begged, "Please. Take him. I'll come for him if I can."

Dumbly, Hinata nodded.

"Thank you. I have left him with Sakura." With a funny twist to her mouth, Tenten added, "I think he takes after his father's side of the family, anyway." Then briskly, she headed to Tsunade's side.

Hinata came into the house to find Sakura and Karin were hastily throwing together packs of clothing and goods, and Haruki looking anxiously around the room. "We have to hurry, Lady Hinata. We're supposed to be going past the temple and over the hill."

"Bring as little as possible," Hinata ordered, scanning the contents of the packs.

"Hinata!" Naruto called as he walked into her rooms, clad in the orange and blue kosode.

"You can't come in here!" squawked Karin.

Sakura only sighed. "Naruto, you do have a way of going into places that you aren't supposed to."

"Lady Hinata," Chouji said, his hoarse, forge-roughened voice a safe distance from the door. "Lady Hinata - I beg your forgiveness - for disturbing you - "

Naruto chimed in, "I was hoping to do this later, in a nicer way -"

"- Lady, I was only able to finish a single sword so far - "

" - but we don't have a lot of time."

Hinata stepped outside.

Chouji cleared his throat. "Lady, you need to take this from me." In his enormous hands, he held out a katana, sheathed in a very simple wooden saya. Hinata received the blade tentatively, astonished at its light weight. "Now you give it to your samurai," he gently instructed, his voice a low rumble.

"Thank you, Chouji." He nodded and after begging pardon for all the things he needed to do, left.

She turned, at her side stood Naruto. She simply handed the sword to him with both hands, but instead of merely accepting it or taking it from her, his hands came up to cover hers. "I will protect you. The promise of a lifetime."

She looked directly into his eyes; so blue, so honest, so simple, so dear, so inspiring. "You are, and shall always be, in the service of the Hyuuga."

He thrust the blade into his obi. He looked so complete, so confident and happy, Hinata could only smile in reflected contentment. Naruto smiled back, then seemed struck by a sudden thought. "Hinata, listen," Naruto said, urgently. "Promise you'll save yourself - you'll try to protect yourself. Promise me."

"I - I promise."

"Good." He stared at her intently, with those blue blue eyes and then suddenly, he swooped in, and crushed her to his body. Then he pressed a kiss, as awkward, as cherished, as new as a first step, against her mouth. "Hinata - I will be back," he whispered into her hair. She had become so precious to him - if he could do anything, it would be to keep her safe. The sounds of preparations made around them brought him back to his immediate situation. "My honor on it!"

* * *

Hinata and and a fractious Haruki joined the group waiting at the edge of the village. Sakura and Karin followed closely behind, each carrying a small pack. As Haruki started to whine, Hinata tied an ombuhimo onto her body, and Sakura helped her load Haruki into the cloth baby carrier, pulling the straps through the metal rings set into the body. Once seated, he calmed down, chewing contentedly on some fabric.

Konohamaru was fiercely objecting to his role as a child. "I am not a baby! I don't wanna go with the babies! I want to fight! Naruto's fighting! Shikamaru and Chouji and Shino and Lee are fighting!" he argued.

"We are not about to let you fight! You're not even twelve years old!" Shizune snapped, anxious, at the end of her patience. "I have better things to do than -"

Hinata interjected, "Konohamaru!"

Konohamaru's head turned. "Oi, it's Boss Man's Lady!" He gave her a brief salute. "What can I do for you?"

Shizune bit her tongue and waited.

Rapidly, without pausing to reflect on what it meant to be "Boss Man's Lady," Hinata said, "Konohamaru - Tsunade and Naruto and Shizune and I - we have decided that you are to have a very important job. Naruto told me especially."

"A job?" Konohamaru's small, round eyes squinted in thought. "What kind of job?"

"It's very important, and it needs a very smart person, a very good fighter."

"What?"

"You're to stay at the back of the line of children and women - we need you to protect them and keep them moving. Can you do that?"

Konohamaru looked a little skeptical. "Truly? It's not just to keep me with the babies?"

"Yes, truly," Hinata said, fully investing in the words. "It's a grown-up, important job. Look at Iruka -"

Iruka jerked his head up at the sound of his name. "What?"

"Iruka's here to protect the women and children, and he's Naruto's own teacher."

Following her lead, Iruka confirmed, "Yes, guarding women and children is the most important job you can get. They are the next generation, the inheritors of the future - you always keep them safe."

"Hn," Konohamaru considered. While not fully convinced, Konohamaru fell in line as the group began to move, a swagger in his step, his hand firmly on his bokken. He constantly looked over his shoulder, just in case anyone was approaching from the rear.

As they continued to walk, the babies strapped to their caretaker's bodies, the women grimly marching, the children began to flag. Shizune looked back over her shoulder at the long line straggling behind, telegraphing her frustration that they weren't able to go any faster. Hinata caught that look, and slowed down her steps so she wound up at the main end of the children. She began to sing a little song about a rabbit, and as she sang, she mimed jumping with her hands, and the children all jumped with her movements. Each time she sang, she sang a little bit faster, moving the children along at some speed. The mothers smiled at her, nodding as she moved along their ranks.

Hinata sang every song she knew, many times over. When even the singing couldn't move the children, Hinata went to consult with Shizune. "Maybe we could rest, just for a minute?"

Shizune looked grim, but nodded. They collected under a tree, and bottles of water and small snacks were freed from deep within sacks. With Sakura and Karin's help, Hinata released Haruki to run about. She sighed. He was very heavy for such a small person. Then she opened up the pack Tenten had made, hoping there would be something for Haruki to eat. There was several small bundles wrapped in cloth, and as she pulled one out, she saw something peculiar at the very bottom of the bag. It almost looked like an architectural drawing of some kind - the lines were very crisply drawn, and in the corner were some notes she could almost read, and neat, angular handwriting seemed so familiar - if only she had some more light -

"Lady Hinata, is there anything for Haruki?" Karin asked, curious.

"Oh, yes, I think so" Hinata said quickly, pulling out a small bundle and shutting the bag, firmly. Deftly, she untied the cloth and revealed some leaf-wrapped rice balls, which Haruki took greedily. "Tenten packed enough for a while."

After the all-too-brief break, Shizune stood up, exchanging another look with Hinata. Hinata nodded. She would take care of this; every adult knew what was expected, and even though the children were refreshed after their break, they were none-too-eager to begin the next part of their march. But the only thing to do was to continue onward, giving up was unthinkable, failure impossible.

She took a deep breath. "Naruto told me a funny story - " and proceeded to tell the story of Naruto falling off the roof of the temple. In the middle of the story, she got up and started walking. The children's attention successfully procured, they began to hurry to so they could catch all the words she spoke. The children laughed and laughed, and some piped up to comment on it. She continued to tell funny, improbable stories; all the stories Naruto had ever told her. She called on every single child whose name she knew, and when she didn't remember, she made up nicknames. She used every trick she could ever remember Naruto and Jiraiya using; she made funny noises in her throat, she made faces, she used different voices, she made up words and most of all, she kept walking.

And the children, with their mothers and elders, followed.

* * *

Time had passed strangely that day - speeding up during the frantic preparations, and then slowing down while they awaited attack, and then suddenly, it was time.

As Tsunade took up position in front of the storehouse with Tenten, she spotted a familiar blaze of white hair on top of a brightly colored robe. "What're you doing, old man?"

Jiraiya sniffed. "I can use a sword as well as any man out there. And if nothing else, my body will slow those animals out there long enough for the women and children to escape." He held an old spear in his hands and gestured meaningfully with it.

"You've got to evaculate!" she yelled, pulling out her tessen, as if to strike him with it.

"With the women and children?" Jiraiya pulled a scornful face. "Don't be ridiculous. I'll stand this ground with you."

"I did not save you so you could die like this. This is not some play, you fool!" she shouted.

He nodded, gravely. "I know. I've always like the idea of battling to the last right here."

Then came the sounds of deep-throated yelling and hooves pounding against the earth, shaking the threatening grey sky, stretching the nerves of the already stressed villagers.

Tsunade eyed him grimly, "It's your funeral."

Jiraiya looked delighted. "As long as you're there when the cherry trees blossom over my remains, dearest Tsunade, it will be worth it."

"Cherry blossoms?" Tsunade snorted. "More like hydrangeas." She turned her attention to the battle about to begin front of them, her hands knuckled into hard fists.

* * *

The bandits came - in raggedy clothing, unkempt, savage-looking, some riding horses that were little more than skeletons, spurred by heavy whipping. In their hands lay any variety of rusty, dirty, blood-encrusted weapons. At their head rode a frightful figure - a gaunt, pale man with matted black hair, his native beauty sunken into decay. As the onslaught began, he laughed, thrilling in the sheer pleasure of destruction.

Shikamaru and Shino were with the archers high in the trees, shooting arrows, throwing down rocks and emptying baskets of dirt into the path of the speeding marauders.

As the bandits cleared the trees, spitting out dirt and rubbing at their eyes, they tripped over hidden wires strung between trees. Some of the horses dropped to their knees, throwing their riders. Humiliated, enraged, the bandits rose up and swarmed over village.

Sasuke and Naruto stood shoulder to shoulder, their swords moving to defend Konoha. Joining them was an incredibly enormous-seeming Chouji, wielding the largest axe Naruto had ever seen, and most of the Hyuuga samurai with their swords. Kakashi stood with an deceptively relaxed mien, his arms crossed about his chest, until an opponent came within reach and he sprang into action, faster than the eye could follow, as befit the Hyuuga master-at-arms. Rock Lee had a bo, on which had been strapped a hand-scythe sharpened to razor's edge. He handled the improvised weapon dexterously, as if he had been practicing for an unholy amount of time.

Then there was Kiba. Surrounding him and his mother lay many of the great white and liver-colored dogs of the Inuzuka; some nearly the size of ponies, their eyes half-shut, their tongues lolling out in a calm that escaped their handlers. At the first sounds of horses, the dogs jerked to their paws, tugging at their restraints. Once unleashed, they starting chasing and harrying the larger animals into a frenzy, their excited baying echoing over the hills. The leader leaped off his crazed horse, jerking out his sword as he landed.

Out of arrows, the archers waited until the last of the bandits ran under them. Then they dropped to the ground, pulled out hand weapons, and spread out through the village. Shikamaru and Shino were immediately chased by a vengeful horseman. Shikamaru ran straight ahead, Shino dodged left. The rider followed Shikamaru, who slipped into a tight space between two houses. The horseman, seized by the thrill of the chase, followed, and was caught, his mount impaled on a hidden piece of fencing embedded with spears. Shino, having doubled back, pursued the rider and pulled a shuriken from his obi and threw it, nearly severing the horseman's head from his body.

The clouds tore open, the rain began to bucket down, and the hard-packed earth became a slippery, muddy, bloody nightmare to navigate. Tenten and Jiraiya fended off a wave of bandits - easily overcoming the numbers with their skills, despite the new challenge of the weather. Tsunade sat, her face calm, as she watched the action all around her. One bandit approached too closely. Tsunade raised her tessen, with a deep grunt, and bashed him heavily across the face, sending him reeling backward into Jiraiya's ready weapon.

When Tenten took a fraction of a second too long to dispatch an adversary, Chouji materialized out of nowhere, running incredibly fast for his mass, chasing down and virtually barreling over the bandits in his way, his weight making him effectively unstoppable, until he could reach her side and take down the enemy with his own hands.

"I could have taken care of that myself," Tenten reminded Chouji, tartly, as they stood next to each other, prepared for the next wave.

"I know," he said, humbly.

Villagers stood at attention by the fields, alert to the possibility of fire, ready to defend their livelihood. Once the rain started, they began to converge around the buildings, circling the remaining bandits, taking back their land.

Sasuke had become separated from the main body of the fighting, ending up against the edges of the village. From the corner of his eye, he saw someone running towards him, the deadly intent from his sword dripping with blood and rain. As Sasuke turned, his normally steady footing faltered and he slipped to his knees. His adversary stepped on Sasuke's arm, and Sasuke dropped his sword. The bandit's next move was to kick Sasuke's face, and step on Sasuke's neck. Time slowed as Sasuke stared up into a white face and cold, dark eyes while his killer licked his lips in anticipation, sword raised. Sasuke could see his own frightened expression reflected off the reptilian pupils. Lightning flared and the killer's eyes widened in shock as he took in Sasuke, and then he spoke, the sound covered by the roll of the thunder.

Then a sword slid between Sasuke and his death, deflecting the incoming blow. Naruto turned fully to the killer, who leaped backward. They exchanged several blows, Naruto seeming to snarl as he drove the bandit backward. Finally, Naruto swung one last time, catching the would-be killer off-guard, who, though successful in fending off a direct impact, was unable to stop Naruto's sword from slicing into his arm. The bandit fled in a panic. As the enemy ran off, Naruto howled at his back, demanding his return.

Sasuke slowly got on his knees to stand. "Naruto - " he began.

Naruto spun toward Sasuke, as nimble as a cornered animal determined to locate additional foes. There was something in Naruto's narrowed eyes, a red ring around the pupils, an accentuation of the whisker marks on his cheeks - a rabid, vulpine bestiality - that seized Sasuke's heart in an icy grip. In the briefest of impressions, Sasuke understood that it was Naruto, this side of Naruto he had to fear, not the mad bandit.

Then it was gone, and all that was left was the clear blue of Naruto's usual expression.

"Naruto - I want to thank you - " Sasuke said, starting to rise.

Naruto extended a hand, starting to grin. "Nah, it's nothing. I'm already in the service of the Hyuuga."

"Yes," Sasuke agreed, taking Naruto's hand and standing. "You are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hydrangeas produce blooms from early spring to late autumn, in comparison with the cherry tree blossom, whose shortness of bloom is often compared to the life of a samurai. Hydrangeas are also known for the large size of the heads of flowers.
> 
> saya = scabbard
> 
> katana = long sword (daito). Wakizashi = short sword (shoto). A shōtō and a _daitō_ together are called a _daishō_ (literally, "big and small"). The _daishō_ was the symbolic armament of the Edo period samurai, even though fighting styles varied and actual use of both swords at the same time was relatively uncommon.
> 
> onbuhimo = Japanese baby carrier worn like a backpack.
> 
> tessen = war fan. These fans were made outer spokes made of plates of iron which were designed to look like normal, harmless folding fans or solid clubs shaped to look like a closed fan. Samurai could take these to places where swords or other overt weapons were not allowed, and some swordsmanship schools included training in the use of the tessen as a weapon. (from wikipedia)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Naruto and all affiliated characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This story is written without permission and for personal/fan/nonprofit entertainment purposes only.

It was over. The rain had stopped as abruptly as it had begun, leaving only the wet ground and the dripping trees and rooftops as proof that it had ever come down at all.

Tsunade sighed, looking like she felt the weight of every day of her long life. It was so hard, so many people depending on her, on her decisions. Any villager who lost their life felt like a failure of her leadership. And then there were so many wounded to care for...

"You okay?" asked Jiraiya, concerned. "You look tired."

Color flooded her face. She stared at him, eyes the color of long-steeped tea pinning him in place until he began to sweat uncomfortably. She opened her mouth. "I can't believe you said that! I don't have time to be tired. I have too much to do." She raised her voice, "Can we send someone to get the women and children?"

Kakashi and a few other men hurried to hitch wagons to horses.

"I can't _believe_ the rain didn't even mess up your hair," Tsunade said, with a scowl. Then she sailed off in high dudgeon, throwing out orders to every able body in her way.

* * *

Even though the day was furious and bloody, it could have been a lot worse. A small number of the villagers and Hyuuga samurai were wounded, and a much smaller number had fallen in battle. One of the largest Inuzuka dogs had been killed outright, and two suffered grievously from horse kicks to the head and body.

Whatever discipline the bandits had was going with the way of the rainwater as they scattered throughout the countryside. Most of the bandits were killed or wounded. The final few bandits were gathered up and imprisoned in an empty room under the storage house. The daimyo would send a magistrate to deal with them.

None of the stores nor the fields were ever seriously endangered. The bodies of the men and horses they fought against were dragged off into the woods, thrown into a big pit and covered.

When Tsunade wondered how this an attack could have happened with so little notice - it was revealed that the early morning watch that was supposed to have alerted the village had been ambushed and killed, their bodies mutilated and hidden deep in the forest. It had only been the chance of Tsume Inuzuka and her dogs coming across the bodies and finding the trail that lead to the small band of armed men that there had been any time to gather their defenses.

* * *

As they reached the edge of the village, all the women and children were grateful to be back to familiar environs. Some of them even burst into relieved tears to see their homes as they had left them.

"Auntie," Kakashi said encouragingly to one rain-damped, work-worn, grey-haired woman who sat in the back of the cart with some very young children, "You see? I told you the village was in good condition."

To his surprise, she grasped him by his ears and laid a big smacking buss on the lips. "We could never thank you and your men enough, Master Kakashi."

"Mah, mah," Kakashi said, flushing. "It's nothing." He caught Iruka's amused expression, and with his good eye, gave the younger man a fierce look that promised deadly retribution.

Iruka kept his mouth shut. In a knowing smirk that did nothing to allay Kakashi's embarrassment.

* * *

Shizune halted her march at the crest of the hill just outside the village, counting the buildings and nodding to herself. As the women and children dispersed to their homes, she pulled Hinata aside. Shizune said, "I think Tsunade would be pleased to know how good you were on the journey - and with the children. And if you can lead these people, you can lead anyone."

Touched, Hinata wanted to ask Shizune more about what she had just said, but a tired, wet, muddy, yet exhilarated Tenten appeared to retrieve her son, her smile wide and victorious.

Hinata returned Haruki to his grateful mother. As Tenten strode off, Hinata called out, "Tenten! You forgot something!" Then she chased her a few steps, holding out Haruki's bag.

"Oh," Tenten said. "Thanks." She opened the bag, pulled out some baby clothes, and returned it to Hinata. "I don't need anything else that's in here. But you might."

Bemused, Hinata watched Tenten walk away, bouncing Haruki off her hip, her voice gleeful as she detailed the yummies he might be eating tonight. Karin approached, reminding her, "Lady, there is much to be done for the retainers."

* * *

Kurenai, Sakura and Iruka went to find Tsunade. They found her, covered with mud, dripping with sweat, working tirelessly to save the men and women who had defended Konoha.

Iruka was relieved to report that none of the bandits had made it far enough to cause worry to the women and children. He also added that Konohamaru had taken his role very seriously, seriously enough that it warranted honorable mention. Tsunade's expression lightened for the first time that grim day. She looked at Konohamaru - who, for all his bravado, couldn't help but be a little intimidated by the older woman - and said, "Your grandfather will be pleased you're taking on such responsibilities."

Konohamaru grinned widely, his broken tooth in high relief.

* * *

The whole village seemed crowded with people - and all were filled with joy and sadness. There were enough jubilant reunions that the smaller number of stunned and saddened villagers seemed particularly lost in the crowd. Shizune consulted with Masako and Kurenai about what could be done to counsel them.

That first night, filled with the relief of survival or the initial pain of loss, separated the villagers over a few bonfires across the village.

Hinata worked through the duties of her position; visiting the wounded, promising to write letters to their families, considering what to return to the families of the dead. She was surprised when Sasuke appeared at her side.

He said, "Go. I'll do this."

"But - there is so much to do," Hinata said, concerned. "You can't do it all alone."

"Little Sister, yes, I can," he said, for once sincere. "He's out there. Go."

* * *

Hinata found him at the edge of the village, at the farthest fire. Naruto was waiting. She realized he had been watching her all along, his blue eyes tracking her progress as she advanced.

She walked towards him at first, slowly, afraid of his somber mien. Her pale eyes took in the blood on his face, the mud on his clothes. She wondered why he wasn't smiling as he usually did when he saw her. Was he uncertain of his position, even though she had given him sword? Was he afraid of the consequences of his declaration to her before the battle? Had she not sought him out early enough? She walked towards him faster, and faster, then in a rush, caring less about his expression than her own need to ascertain the reality of his being with a touch. She practically ran into his chest, nearly bowling him over.

"Is it really you?" she asked, looking up at his face, raising a hesitant hand to touch his bruised and battered face. "Are you hurt? Do you need some medicine?"

He seemed surprised by her flight towards him, and after a startled second, his arms enclosed her, and tightened, and tightened. "No - I'm okay. I was afraid you wouldn't want to see me, not like this."

"Never, I'd never not want to see you," she declared. "I'm so sorry I didn't find you right when we got back - but there was so much to do." She confessed, "I was afraid to look for you - and then I couldn't find you right away. I was afraid you might be hurt -or gone - or -" her voice choked.

His voice was low, husky, intent, as he pressed his face into the side of her neck, his lips brushing against her skin as he spoke. "I told you, I would be back. No matter what, I would have come back. For you."

"I believed you," she whispered. Her eyes welled up with tears, but she refused to let them fall. "I believe you."

* * *

Sasuke sat by himself, the flames flickering on his pale face. Hesitantly, Sakura approached him. He always seemed so alone, despite his upbringing within the Hyuuga household. It seemed to Sakura that as he had gotten older, it had only gotten worse - and he had grown farther and farther away from the rest of the family.

"Naruto asked me to find you."

"Did he tell you he saved my life?"

She seemed surprised. "No. Just that I should see you in case you were wounded."

"He did - he saved my life," Sasuke said, quietly. At Sakura's inquiring look, he said, shortly, "I'm fine." Then he shrugged, and hissed at the attendant ache, drawing her attention.

"Let me look," she insisted. "Please."

He sighed, "It's nothing." Still, Sasuke slid out of the top half of his kosode, flinching as he did so.

With delicate fingers, Sakura probed his neck and shoulder. "I don't see anything, but your neck is going to bruise," she said. "How are you feeling?"

Slowly, Sasuke said, "Good. Fighting to protect something real - it's a good feeling. And honest. It's different from the Emperor's wars - which were just empty. Killing for no reason." He stared off into the distant fire, his expression unusually thoughtful, open. "Sometimes it seemed like this season would never end - and life here will go on like this forever. It is truly peaceful here. No bad dreams, no ghosts, no history. No politics, no worries beyond the everyday simple worries."

Sakura wondered if it was the time in Konoha that was making him feel this way, dulling the sharp, intense edges of his personality. He seemed to be content for the first time in a very long time. For that, she was grateful.

"Being here is just like when we were children. Don't you remember when we were children, Sakura? When we played at being a lord and a lady? When we didn't worry about anything?"

"I remember," she murmured, thinking back to a time that seemed incredibly distant - when Lord Hiashi had resided at the castle and Lady Hyuuga was still alive. Before Hinata became so sick, before Karin arrived, before Neji died. "We were happy and had fun everyday."

"What was that name you called me?"

"Sasukie," they both said together. She slanted a look upwards at him, and they shared a smile over the memory.

He slid his robe back on, securing it tightly. He admitted, "Naruto is a Hyuuga samurai now."

"I saw when Hinata gave him his sword."

"I suppose he's all right, even if he comes from nothing and nowhere," Sasuke conceded reluctantly. "Kakashi and Iruka seem to like him, and they're good judges of character."

As if bidden, Kakashi stepped into Sasuke's vision. "My lord?"

"Is it time, then?" Sasuke sighed.

"Yes."

After rising, Sasuke looked at Sakura, his onyx eyes warm. "Again, Sakura, thank you for everything."

They walked over to the darkened house, where Kakashi set his lantern on a low table. Sasuke retrieved his writing implements. After he had settled himself, setting out his paper, ink, water, stone and brush just so, he said, "Tell me about the men who died."

Kakashi tried his best to detail the particulars of the fallen. Sasuke considered his wording, and then began writing condolence letters to the parents, widows, children, and other family left behind.

This, Kakashi thought, was why men stayed loyal to Sasuke, despite his being difficult, harsh, and indifferent to the suffering of lesser beings. They knew that no matter what happened to them, Sasuke would provide for the ones left behind. The Hyuugas had always been dutiful to their retainers, but Sasuke made it more personal. He had found positions for sons, settled sums on elderly parents and widows large enough so they need not worry about their futures, and personally ensured the generous dowries of daughters, and if interested in re-marriage, of the widows. This practice was unlike some other families, whose widows would lose their place when their husbands died. Perhaps Sasuke did this because he himself had been an orphan, taken in by the Hyuuga.

Years ago, no one would have thought a grim genius of battle could have emerged from the sensitive, bookish little boy. Kakashi remembered when Sasuke was small, forever combing through the library and the dusty archives, reading the histories, tracing the genealogies, comparing the different renditions of various battles. His only companions, that Kakashi could recall, for his first few years at least, were a servant woman and her older son.

Kakashi recalled his own father saying that the boy spent entirely too much time with the dead. His mother had defended the right of Lady Hyuuga to be a bit indulgent with her children, especially since it was widely known how many years it had taken for her to become pregnant with Hinata. And no one, _no one_ , not her husband, not her husband's father, and some joked, not even the Emperor, dared cross words with Lady Hyuuga about her children. For all her small physical size, she could be as fierce as a tiger in their protection. Even when her health was failing her, she refused to see any fault in them.

* * *

During the next few days, the whole village watched as Hinata and Naruto proceeded in a slow courtship. During the quiet times of their work loads, during mealtimes, and on short strolls just before bedtime, they talked.

Hinata learned bits and pieces of his childhood - enough to infer how difficult, how lonely, how unprotected, it was.

Intensely curious, she asked, "How did Jiraiya become your master?"

Nonchalantly, Naruto replied, "I tried to pick his pocket."

"What?"

"I tried to pick his pocket."

"What?" Incredulous.

Without apology, he explained, "I was a little kid in Edo, and I did what I had to do to survive - all of us did. We stole if possible, begged if necessary. There he was, this peacock on his way to the pleasure houses, and I thought he'd have a lot of money. He had a fat purse." He paused as if he was still remembering the weight of the prize that had eluded him so long ago. "Jiraiya caught me - and I demanded that he teach me a fair trade if he was going to take away my one skill. He called me an outrageous hustler, and all sort of names. I told him he had to take responsibility. A lot of people started to gather and watch us - and some even threw money. I guess he decided it would be better to take me on as a student than take on the crowd. He became my acting master."

"How did you get your budo, growing up like that?"

He looked at her warily at first, then decided her question was sincere. "I was really short when I was little. Really, really short. And I got picked on a lot." He spoke without any self-pity, but with an intense need to be understood. "But I saw some really well-dressed guy in the streets, and he had two swords. I think he was a bodyguard, because he would wait all night for somebody else to come out of a bar. Once, some other guys tried to pick a fight with him - and they went flying. Nobody messed with him after that. I wanted to be like that."

Hinata could only imagine a scrawny little version of Naruto trying to find a way out of that street life.

"Who took care of you?"

Airily, he waved. "Sometimes the ladies would feed me, and sometimes they'd let me sleep in their hallways if they didn't have guests. Some of them were really nice. One said she really liked my eyes - they reminded her of the sky."

Hinata inwardly blanched, barely capable of imagining what kinds of "guests" the "nice ladies" might have. She wanted to feed that child, warm him, protect him and give him shelter, even though that time was long gone. Thinking about what Naruto must have lived through made her embarrassed about the privilege of her upbringing. And then she realized, although perhaps she had always sensed it, and his funny stories were based in the spirit he needed to survive the sadness of his early life, and her heart ached for him.

"I guess you grew up with parents and brother and sister and nannies and servants, huh?" he asked, his voice touched with envy.

"Sort of. I was sick so much that I didn't get to meet a lot of people. Mostly my mother and Sakura. When Hanabi was born, they didn't let me see her much - they were afraid that I would make her sick. But I remember her being such a pretty little girl - I could see her playing on the grounds of the castle through my window. I made her dolls - but my father was afraid and he had them burned them before Hanabi could have them."

"Why would he do that?"

"He was afraid. At that time, there was a priest who thought my illness was because of evil spirits and everything I touched was contaminated. When it happened, I cried and cried because I thought they were such pretty dolls - a prince and a princess - and I had worked on it so hard. I wanted Hanabi to have it so much. How else would Hanabi know she had an older sister who loved her?" Hinata said, with a little twist to her lips. "I remember my mother was angry, but what could she do? It was fate. That was a long time ago. Then my mother died and Karin came." She gave a resigned shrug.

Naruto felt a companion ache for the loneliness she must have felt. For all their differences in status and wealth and upbringing, he realized that they were very much alike. It renewed his desire to protect her, and to never let her be lonely again.

Through their conversations, Naruto seemed continually fascinated by Hinata's stories of her childhood. The things she had to say about all her relatives; her siblings, her mother, her father, her grandfather - the political genius who had caused their old family line to rise precipitously. The books that informed her mind. Her reasoning. She seemed so smart to him, he was awed and proud of her.

And this was all done with the implicit approval of her brother. Sasuke never said anything directly about Naruto and Hinata's slowly developing relationship. However, he sought Naruto out, ostensibly to coach Naruto about life in the Hyuuga household; what was expected, what was forbidden. Upon a particularly sharp reprimand from Sasuke about how things were done and more specifically, _not done,_ Naruto muttered, "I will change the Hyuuga."

To which Sasuke replied, drily, "You're not the first to say that."

They were not friends, but they certainly got along better than they used to. Hinata had saw how Naruto's good nature and forgiveness extended toward Sasuke. That Sasuke responded at all was astonishing. She wondered if this might be the closest thing to true companionship Sasuke had allowed himself since their mother's death. Sakura maintained that they were alike, finding commonalities into friendship - and perhaps that was true.

* * *

At the end of Hinata's day with the children, Naruto swept in and announced, "Come on - there's something I want to show you."

"Is it far?"

"Nah." He paused. "Well, not too far."

She followed him through the village, right by the house of Teuchi, the noodle maker. "Naruto!" yelled the noodle maker with the ease of great familiarity. "You coming by to eat noodles today?"

"Not today!" Naruto hollered back. "But I'll be back soon!"

Hinata followed Naruto through the fields, the cabbage and radish starkly green above the dark earth, the rice and barley heads heavy with ripening grain.

"Why don't the deer eat the grain?" she wondered.

"Inuzuka," Naruto said, as if that answered everything.

After a moment, still walking, Hinata asked, quietly, not wanting to bother him, "Is it far now?"

Naruto turned his head to look back at her with a grin. "Not far now."

They walked through a high field of late season wildflowers. Hinata wanted to stop in the midst of the unexpected beauty. The small white and yellow blossoms smiled up at her like little suns. "It's lovely!" she said, her voice lilting with pleasure.

"This isn't it," Naruto grunted, not stopping.

"No?" she was a little saddened, but still game. "Is it far now?" she asked.

"Not far now," he replied, increased the lengths of his strides.

And so they walked up the hill to the giant red cedar that spread its branches above Konoha like a benediction, a shimenawa festooned with shide and rice rope tassels about its massive girth.

Hinata looked up to the tree with great respect. "Ino told me her ancestors had been tending this tree for hundreds of years, and her father has raised seedlings to from it, in case they need to replant it someday."

"Have you been up here, before, then?" Naruto asked, a little concerned about his surprise being spoiled.

"No," she puffed. The trip up had been very fast indeed.

He breathed out in relief. "Okay, then close your eyes."

She felt him spin her around and then stop.

"Don't look, don't look, don't look." He took her hand, and told her to take a few steps. Just to be certain, he placed his hands over her eyes. When he had positioned her just as he liked, he said, "Now, open." He took his hands away.

She opened her eyes, and gasped. She could see the village at the base of the hill, the patchwork fields spread beyond them, the lake with the sunlight glittering on its dark surface, and then the woods all spread far as the eye could see, all framed by the green canopy of the great tree behind them.

"Isn't it beautiful?" he asked, suddenly stepping into her sight, bouncy with the desire to please. "When I first came up here, I knew I wanted you to see this - I wanted to make sure you saw this."

Her breath caught in her throat. She could only nod. It was unbelievably beautiful. She could see incredibly far, where the green-grey earth met the great blue sky above. Distant dots of birds flew up into the air. The view made could make one believe in the wholeness of the world, a world where nothing bad could happen, a world where all the possibilities existed for one's choosing. She felt tears well up in her eyes.

"Oh, Hinata, I didn't mean to make you cry!" Naruto looked upset. He berated himself. "So dumb - I made you walk all that way for this stupid view. I should have stopped to get flowers instead - or even noodles would be better."

"No - no," she said, a hitch in her voice. "You don't understand. When I first got that letter from my father that broke my engagement, it was if my world was also broken, that my destiny had been irretrievably changed - and there was nothing I could do about it. That I had to accept my fate, and be known as someone who was not good enough. But you changed me and made me think I could change things on my own. At least to question it and try harder to be and do what I want. And now, look - you've given me the world." She looked up at him and laughed, flinging out both her arms to the air, as if to embrace the view to her heart.

* * *

Tsunade and Masako had decided that the Midsummer festival would go on, but with some changes. The usual revelry would be inappropriate. There were families who had lost loved ones, and families who were now caring for one of the wounded.

At dusk, Masako and Kurenai performed a small service at the temple. Tsunade attended, along with all the villagers. There was not enough room in the temple itself for all who came, so the little ceremony went on as people shuffled on through, without regard for status. Hinata and Sasuke gave grave thanks to the samurai who had gone this far with them, and to the ones who had fallen in their duty.

Then the nuns, followed by everyone who was capable of walking, went down to the lake shore, lit tapers in their hands. The tapers were placed into small paper boats and released at the shoreline; in each was written the name of someone who had died in the past year. The little boats floated to the center of the lake, rivaling the emerging stars, until all the lights disappeared.

* * *

Sasuke awoke, drenched in sweat, his shoulder throbbing angrily. In the room beyond, he heard the deep breaths and snores of the Hyuuga retainers. Feeling thirsty, he rose silently, tied on a light robe, and walked out of the house. He reached for the small bucket of water left at the entrance of the house, pulled up a dipperful of water, and drank. The tepid water rolled over his tongue and down his throat.

Only when the dipper was on its way back did Sasuke realize that the word uttered by his would-be killer was "Uchiha." That fractional hesitation had saved his life. He dropped the dipper. Sasuke stared up at the gibbous waning moon hanging low on the horizon, knowing he would be unable to go back to sleep. Sleep would only bring back the bad dreams and the ghosts that had haunted him his entire life.

He walked soundlessly through the village, intent on reaching open air on the far side of the sparring field. The air was still and cool, refreshing from the hot humidity of the past days. He could hear the little lake frogs singing their love songs, accompanied by the occasional splash as a suitor was rejected.

Sasuke had always like to roam around in the dark, even as a child, even in the confines of Hyuuga Castle, especially on moonless nights. He appreciated how the darkness heightened his senses, and made him more aware of his own life and desires. He had also been very good at determining whose gait was whose based on sound alone so he would never be surprised. So when he heard the quiet footsteps behind him, he knew exactly whose they were. He didn't bother to turn around. "Sakura."

"Sasukie," said Sakura, her eyes luminous in the moonlight, dressed in a light sleeping robe.

"Sakura - you haven't called my name without "My Lord" in front of it since we were children," he said, with a small reminiscent smile tucked into a corner of his mouth.

"I was worried about how you were feeling," she said, placing a hand on his arm.

"It's not proper, you being out here with me," he teased her, in that way of his, that didn't quite seem like teasing, but could be nothing else. "Aren't you always worried about that?"

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked, biting her lip, afraid of being rejected after having put herself so far forward.

"Sakura, go back to sleep," said Sasuke softly.

As she was about to turn away, he asked, "Sakura, do you believe in atonement?"

"Yes," she halted, and returned to his side. "I do." After a moment, she continued, "I think Konoha is a place that lets people find what they need. It's a healing place."

"I think about some of the things I've done - "

"Sasukie, whatever you did, you had to do it. I'm sure of it. I'm also sure you can find peace, if you want it."

He looked at her intently. "You have such mercy in you, Sakura." He raised a hand, as if to touch her, but then stopped. His eyes were steady and serious, but a touch of humor entered his voice as he said, "and I should have some mercy on you."

She smiled at him, waiting. He looked at her, really looked at her face, seeing the familiar childhood friend turned into a beautiful woman.

This time, his hand did graze Sakura's cheek, his expression intent.

"Sakura!" called a frantic woman's voice.

Both Sasuke and Sakura turned to see Karin running towards them, in a complete panic. "Sakura! It's Lady Hinata! Something is wrong!"

* * *

Hinata had been feeling poorly ever since dinner, but didn't say very much about it, hoping that her discomfort would go away. She had awoken during the night, crying and clutching at her midsection. She had barely made it to a bucket before she vomited violently. Sakura and Karin tried to make their lady comfortable, to no avail, her painful, body-racking symptoms all too familiar.

Naruto hovered all the next day, his concern evident in his inability to leave the shadow of Hinata's house, even into the evening. He had been banished from her bedside by an exasperated Sakura, who had told him in no uncertain terms that he was not going to be allowed back in until Hinata herself got up, opened the door and bid him to enter.

"Hinata - be strong enough to conquer this illness- " he begged. He did not know who to pray to, or how. Had someone told him right then what to do, he would have done it without question.

Instead, he bowed his head against the wall, willing Hinata to get better. He would have given anything to make her well. He had just found some part of his dream, the reality of which was sweeter than he had ever thought possible. The gods could not be cruel enough to rip it away so soon, could they?

* * *

Jiraiya found him, huddled miserably in the doorway of Hinata's house. While delighted that Naruto finally seemed to be romantically happy, Jiraiya had been simultaneously afraid of what would happen to him after an attachment like this occurred, especially with a girl that had the singular combination of great wealth, beauty and poor health. It was something almost directly out of his own stories. And Naruto, with his own lonesome history - his unique and sometimes unwise ability to attach quickly and tightly to people - Jiraiya did not know how the boy would cope. "Naruto? Are you okay?"

Naruto turned to his old master, overflowing with anxiety. "Hinata - she was so well just yesterday. I don't understand how she could just - just - be so sick. She is so helpless - it's terrible - she looked so sad - like it was her fault - but how could it be her fault? She's just sick. And there's nothing I can do. If there was something I could do - I would, you know that."

"I do, Naruto. I know."

"What if she dies - what if I can't ever see her again - what if -" Naruto's voice broke. Surreptiously, he drew his arm over his wet eyes. "I hate feeling this pain - being this vulnerable - like I can't do anything for her."

"Ah," Jiraiya sighed. Realization of the fragility of human life always starts earlier for those who love the delicate. "You can't will a person well. You can hope and dream, my boy. That is all. She is in good hands now. The best hands there are."

"It's not like when you were sick - I always knew you'd be there."

"Thanks, Naruto. I don't know if I should be glad you thought I'd make it or if I should be upset it never crossed your mind."

"You?" Naruto looked surprised. "No. I knew we would make it to Tsunade's, and she would make you well. I knew it, and so I made it happen. Here, there is _nothing_ I can do," he gestured with his own empty hands.

Jiraiya was not a demonstrative man, but he was fond of Naruto like the boy was his own. He clapped one hand on Naruto's shoulder and presented the last refuge of the comforter. "Come on, Naruto. You need to get some rest and eat something. You'll make yourself sick. That's not something Hinata needs."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed, unenthusiastically.

* * *

Restless, Naruto wandered about the village. He found Sasuke in his rooms, sitting at a small portable desk, looking over some letters, several ledgers open around him. Naruto plopped himself down across the desk from Sasuke.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Hello, Naruto."

"What're you doing?" Naruto asked, impatiently.

Sasuke grunted. "I have to keep in touch with what is happening with the Hyuuga lands. The steward does most of the work, but I need to approve it and check it. Decisions on what to buy, how much to plant, debts to be paid - it's really tedious, but it must be done, otherwise the whole family could be financially ruined."

"What about Hinata? How can you just keep working like that with her so sick?" Naruto exclaimed, his thin layer of patience worn out by lack of sleep.

"Naruto, I know you're worried about Hinata-"

"Yeah, I am. I'm wondering why _you're_ not more worried about Hinata."

"There is nothing else I can do," Sasuke explained, his voice cool, chiding Naruto for questioning his actions. He sighed and put down the papers to rub his eyes. It was only then that Naruto noticed how tired Sasuke seemed, how unhappy. Almost to himself, Sasuke muttered, "I don't know why she's sick this time - she shouldn't be sick again - it looks like the same thing she's always had, but how? Maybe this trip to Konoha was a waste after all - and her improving health was just a sham."

"Do you think - Hinata will - you know - something will happen to her?"

Sasuke seemed to have drawn himself back from wherever he was to the present conversation with Naruto. With some force, he said, "Of course nothing will happen. She's much stronger than she looks."

"Of course you would know about such things," said Naruto, much comforted. "Thanks."

"Hn, yes," Sasuke said, measuringly. "She's been through much worse, and has always come out of it. She's surprised us all."

"It's hard, this pain, this fear of losing somebody," Naruto mused. "But I'd rather have it than not."

"You only knew her for a few months, less then two seasons. What kind of bond can you have with somebody you've only known for five months?"

"Maybe I never had a sibling, or a real mother and father - not like you, Sasuke - but I have people who are important in my life - people I would give my life for - and I want to protect them, save them," Naruto explained.

"Why?" asked Sasuke. "You have a choice of not caring, of not hurting when she hurts, of being free from these kinds of bonds. Why would you do that to yourself?"

"You act like I could walk away. I can't. I promised her that I would protect her. Even if it is only with my hopes and dreams, that is what I will do. It's my way."

Sasuke looked as if he was really thinking about his next words. Finally, after a long pause, he said, "Bonds create a lot of suffering - sometimes I think it would have been better to not have them at all."

"This worry for Hinata is hard - but it is better than knowing the emptiness of never being able to have close bonds with anyone. I know how truly terrible that is." Getting up, Naruto said, "Hey, you don't have to look like that. I think we all feel bad that Hinata's sick - but it's not like we made that happen. Jiraiya says she's in the best hands, and there's nothing we can do about for her but dream and hope."

"Jiraiya's most wise," Sasuke said softly, and looked away, hiding something dark and anguished in his eyes.

* * *

"It's the same thing, isn't?" Tsunade asked Kurenai.

Kurenai was exhausted, this third day of vigil at Hinata's bedside. She nodded. "Yes, it's what I found when I first saw her at Hyuuga Castle." Kurenai said, "I'm at my wits' end - she should not have sickened again - she was doing well."

Tsunade shook her head. "I saw her following the near-drowning, and it was nothing like this."

With a sigh, Kurenai suggested, "Maybe it was all the exertion of the day. But it seems as if the worst of it has passed."

Tiredly, Tsunade watched the young woman sleep, feeling the effects of her over-extension from caring for wounded. All visitors had been barred, only herself, Karin, Kurenai and Sakura had been allowed to attend Hinata. "Kurenai," Tsunade said, softly. They had approached a good working relationship in the short time they had known each other.

"Yes, Mistress?"

"There is something I don't like about this illness." Tsunade paused, considering her next words. "Now if I can only find a counter to this poison in her system."

"You think it was a poison?" Kurenai's eyes opened wide.

"Yes. Don't you?"

"There have been rumors, for as long as I can remember, about ghosts haunting the Hyuugas, and their castle. People have told me it was cursed."

"Do you really think the castle was cursed?" Tsunade asked. "A curse that could cause sickness like this?"

Kurenai paused. Finally, she said, "I have to think something has happened to this family."

"That doesn't mean something supernatural did," Tsunade scoffed.

Outside of the lit window, a shadow shifted uneasily.

* * *

"Karin - why? Why did you do it?"

"Sasuke - it was an accident!" protested Karin. "A mistake!"

"There can never be any mistakes," he thundered. "You ruined everything!"

"It's a mistake," Karin admitted. "A very small one. The amount in the tea was too much - and so she ended throwing it up. But she's already sick. It wouldn't take much now."

"No," commanded Sasuke, "Do nothing further. You've already done enough."

"Do nothing? You've done nothing since we got here. This is not the dream I wanted to share with you," she snorted. "So you're going to welcome Naruto into the Hyuuga household?" Karin challenged. "Just like that? I told you - I told you we had to be careful of this journey - we were so close -"

"You listen to me - I will take care of everything. You just need to wait."

* * *

Sasuke approached the lake. He surprised a man dressed in filthy, torn clothes by the muddy edge, who was dipping his arm into the water. The man didn't look like anybody he recognized, but there were always people coming and going from the village, attracted by the lake's healing reputation. "Pardon me," he said, politely.

The man by the edge of the water turned his head, and Sasuke recoiled.

It was the same man who had tried to kill him not a week ago! He would know that pale skin and those maddened eyes anywhere. As Sasuke reached for his sword, the man said, in a voice of rotten silk, "Uchiha."

Sasuke snatched his sword out of the saya, his hands shaking. "How do you know?"

The man continued, unperturbed by the sight of Sasuke's ready weapon. "I would know the look of Uchiha anywhere. From the moment I saw you, I knew," he said. He ran his over-sized tongue over his dry lips, and then smiled. "Once, all of Japan knew the might of "the Emperor's Sword," and feared their wrath."

"I should kill you right now!" Sasuke said fiercely.

"Do it. I'm going to die anyway."

Sasuke looked closer. He saw a huge and badly dressed wound running up the man's arm, swelling and festering clearly apparent.

The man spoke, calmly, conversationally, "Tell me, how could there be Uchiha still left in this world? I thought the Emperor had killed all of you."

"I was adopted by the Hyuuga."

"The clan that was most pivotal in the destruction of your family adopted you?" He paused, and then, to himself, "The last Uchiha as a dog to the Hyuuga? Unbelievable." The man threw his head back and laughed, a gasping, raspy laugh, drenched in mockery. "Surely the gods play tricks with mortals."

Suddenly, the pale face was directly in Sasuke's face, and a waxen finger with a ragged nail flicked at Sasuke's face, the touch light, the sting painful. "My boy, take this from a dying man, who would not lie. The Hyuuga didn't make you a son. They made you a slave." He laughed, his merriment ending on a hoarse cough.

"Who are you?" Sasuke demanded.

The eyes were filled with gleeful cruelty. "Orochimaru." Spying something at his feet, he reached down and picked up a broken fan, the once-bright paper torn and muddied. He opened it up, the shattered spokes with their attached material hanging like bedraggled skirts. "And if you wish to speak to me further, Uchiha, you will bring me food and medicine."

* * *

He dreamed. Sweating, he turned, seeking a cooler spot on his futon. Futilely, he sought a more comfortable spot for his aching shoulder. The images in his head, quiescent for months, returned with the full force of a recurring fever, stronger and more distinct than ever.

Blood red eyes dripped black blood down shallow, prematurely age-creased cheeks. _Sasuke, you promised me revenge - what has happened to your resolve - to your hatred?_

"Itachi! Big Brother! I'm sorry - I forgot!"

 _How could you forget the destruction of your entire clan? You have betrayed everything we were taught. You are not worthy to be a Uchiha! You are not even worthy to be a dog of the Hyuuga!_ Itachi laughed, madly, like he had never done in the few, faint, precious memories Sasuke had retained. _Run away! Run back to the skirts of the Hyuuga, coward!_ Then Itachi dissolved behind a wall of flapping, flying ravens, his red-rimmed eyes reflected in their eyes.

"I should have gone with you, Itachi. I should have gone and died with you and mother!" And in his dreams, Sasuke cowered and wept with shame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obon = (Bon) is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the departed spirits of one's ancestors. Some local Obon (which occurs roughly the same time as Tanabata) traditions include the custom of floating paper ships and candles on rivers or offerings to the deceased. Many areas in Japan have their own Tanabata customs, which can be related to local Obon traditions.
> 
> Sasuke's surname, "Uchiha", is another way of pronouncing "uchiwa" (=paper fan), which is actually the Uchiha clan symbol. (Narutopedia)
> 
> Orochi means "Great Snake" and Maru is a common suffix in male names. (Narutopedia)
> 
> Shimenawa = lengths of braided rice straw rope used for ritual purification in Shinto. They can vary in diameter from a few centimeters to several meters, and are often seen festooned with shide (zigzag-shaped paper streamer). A space bound by shimenawa often indicates a sacred or pure space. They are used to mark trees that are believed to be inhabited by spirits called Kodama. Cutting down these trees is thought to bring misfortune.
> 
> Please let me know what you think of the story so far.


	6. Legacy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Naruto and all affiliated characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This story is written without permission and for personal/fan/nonprofit entertainment purposes only.

The warrior was very tall, with long black hair tied back with a single band. Dread made Sasuke's heart pound hard against his sternum. He knew exactly who it was, exactly what would be said. It had happened innumerable times already.

His brother turned, his pale skin almost translucent under his dark headband. His pale grey eyes, so like their sister's, stared accusingly. _Sasuke, why?_

As before, Sasuke's own sword rose up and stabbed his brother through the heart, and he felt the warm blood on his hands. _Traitor, do you think it can be over just like that?_

His brother smiled faintly as he raised a tanto and thrust it through Sasuke's shoulder. _It will never be over._ His skin and eyes became lighter and lighter, until he practically glowed. _Not for you, Brother._

* * *

Sasuke awoke with a start, gasping. His shoulder throbbed viciously. It hurt him all the time now, waking or sleeping. Knowing he wouldn't sleep much more this night, he got up and went outside. He walked a short distance to the edge of the village and hiked up a small ridge to get a better view of the sky.

He did not find it particularly surprising when Sakura joined him some time hence. They sat for a while in silence, looking up at the waning crescent moon.

Softly, she asked, "How's your shoulder?"

"Fine," he said, stiffly, trying not to give anything away.

She gave him a gently knowing look. "I was worried."

"I would have been fine, out here alone," he informed her.

Then she asked, "Why are you always alone? Why do you always talk about being alone?"

"I've gotten used to being alone."

"You're never alone, Sasukie," Sakura said, teasingly. "Why, you're one of us, with the Hyuuga - part of the clan."

Sasuke shook his head. "No - I've never felt part of the family. I have always been alone." He paused. "If things had been different - " he gave a bare shrug. "I can never truly be a Hyuuga." His eyes flicked over Sakura and he spoke with great deliberation, "I will always be a servant."

Sakura sucked in her breath, suddenly angry, her temper already frayed from the exhaustion of tending Hinata. "A servant? We are family. It is our place - and Hinata loves us like sisters, like brothers."

"This is not my place! This is not my family! We are not Hinata's sisters or brothers!" He chopped the air with his hand. "Don't you ever dream of something more? Don't you feel your destiny calling to your blood - " he growled, clenching a fist, unable to finish his thought - the intensity of his feelings overcoming his ability to speak.

"Oh, Sasuke," sighed Sakura, drained. "I thought you were happy here."

"Happiness is a fool's dream. And like any dream, it can't last. Reality always intrudes."

"What about atonement?" she asked, with the faintest hope.

"I thought for a moment it was possible - but I was lying to myself. It's been too late for a long, long time," he replied, darkly. He stood quickly and left her behind.

* * *

Jiraiya, in an attempt to get Naruto to think about something else beside Hinata and his own helplessness, had suggested that he seek out Sasuke for some practice. He hoped that this would help distract Naruto. In Jiraiya's experience, nothing focused a person's attention more than the imminent threat of physical harm.

"Sasuke!" yelled Naruto. "Want to fight?"

"I want to win," said Sasuke grimly, getting himself ready.

They circled each other on the hard-packed ground, bokken in hand.

"Hn," said Sasuke. "I am going to beat you."

Sasuke's style was different now, wilder, more desperate as he slashed at Naruto. Naruto parried, adroitly stepping back and to the side. Naruto's customary grin slipped as he realized that this most recent practice had turned into something else.

This bout had become a proving ground - Sasuke wanting to impress on this yellow-haired hobbledehoy his ultimate superiority, and Naruto wanting to show his own equality to any and everyone, even the best of geniuses. As Naruto proved his increasing ability, Sasuke became visibly frustrated.

Sasuke threw the bokken down and grabbed his sword. "I'm done playing with you."

Kakashi called out, "Lord Sasuke, let it go. We don't use real swords when we practice with our friends."

Sasuke sneered. "This nothing will never be my friend." Then he advanced.

There came another ripple of surprise from the onlookers when after a very neat feint, pivot and strike, Sasuke found himself at the point of Naruto's bokken.

"How do you feel about being beaten by nothing?" Naruto grinned, his expression one of undiluted pleasure in having beaten Sasuke.

With a laugh and a wriggle of his eyebrows, Naruto dropped the tip of the bokken. His bare hand rose up, as if starting a conciliatory hand shake.

His face grimly set, Sasuke raised his sword and slashed downward on the outstretched arm. Naruto, caught off-guard, yelled and reflexively leaped backwards, his face pale and shocked.

"Let it go already!" Kakashi shouted, rushing toward the two.

Neither listened to the Hyuuga man-at-arms. Naruto held his bokken at the ready, warily taking in Sasuke's approach.

"I said enough!" Kakashi slapped down Sasuke's clenched fist with his own hand, his face a dark cloud. "I may be a servant, but I am your swords master and I will not have you acting like a savage! Sasuke - I expect better of you! Think of what Lord Hiashi would say!"

Sasuke visibly swallowed back a retort. He spat on the ground and stamped off, leaving the retainers looking at him in dismay.

* * *

He sat by the bedside of Lady Hyuuga as she rattled her last breaths.

" _Why did you not save her? Why did you not try? She was your own sister!"_

As he watched, Lady Hyuuga opened her eyes and turned her head toward him. He knew without seeing that his grey clothes darkened into black, soaked with blood.

" _As you killed them, I will kill you."_

Lady Hyuuga looked at him with the eyes of his mother, his own eyes, and wept.

Sasuke awoke with a start. He sat up. At the edge of his futon, he hugged his knees to his chest and cradled his head on them.

* * *

"You're meeting somebody!" accused Karin, accosting him as he walked around the edge of the village. "I see you sneaking down by the lake almost everyday! Who are you meeting? I see you with food and medicine. What are they offering you?"

He stared at her, through her, his eyes like an unending night. Unnerving her. Finally, frigidly, he said, "You don't ask me anything."

Taken by surprise, Karen gaped for a moment before reversing herself. Meekly, she said, "I'm sorry, my lord."

"I'm starting to think that I don't really need you - "

Panicked, Karin said, "Sasuke, my lord, it can work - it can be better than before - all the plans we've made, the future we're going to have - it can still happen." Tears in her eyes, she dropped to her knees. "I didn't mean to offend you. I beg you, it can still happen." Still groveling at his feet, she pleaded. "Anything for you, my lord, Sasuke. Anything I can do to make it right, I will do. For you."

* * *

Groaning, Hinata cracked open her eyes. Blurrily, she took in Kurenai's exhausted face, the lines of worry fading into a small, warm smile.

"She's awake!" cried Sakura, happily, her green eyes brimming with relieved tears. "If it weren't for you, Kurenai, I don't know what we would have done."

"No, Sakura, it was your vigilence," Kurenai said.

"How long?" Hinata wondered.

"Three whole days," replied Kurenai. She turned to Sakura. "Find Sasuke. Tell him his sister is out of danger," she said, kindly. "I know you want to."

Sakura hurried through the village, her heart pounding. Naruto, still hanging about in front of Hinata's doorway, had said that he thought Sasuke might be by the practice fields. Before he could ask why, she had already run off.

Sakura approached the fields from below grade, starting to smile as she saw the back of Sasuke's head. But as she started to climb up the hill, her angle of sight changed and she caught sight of Karin at Sasuke's feet. She halted, dead in her tracks, incredulous.

He looked down at Karin a moment. Deliberately, he dropped his hand onto Karen's head and grasped her hair, pulling it back to stare deeply at her, his own black eyes pitiless. He then drew her up to her feet, and dropped his head against her neck, biting it viciously. Karin shamelessly grunted in intense pleasure and excitement.

Sakura couldn't hear what was being said, but seeing was enough. Something sweetly budding in her heart and memory withered and she turned away, tears filling her eyes.

* * *

She wandered around the village, completely shaken. Had she not been able to see past their rivalry for Sasuke's attention to see what was happening? Sakura tried to remember when she first saw Karin. It had been shortly after Lady Hyuuga had died. Was it Sasuke who had her brought into the household ? Sakura couldn't remember - it had seemed a long time ago. It had been so sad, she hadn't really wanted to remember. People had come and gone a great deal then. As Sasuke had been slowly taking over much of the day to day stewardship while Lady Hyuuga had sickened, so it hadn't seemed out of place. But now, she wondered.

"Hey - did you find him?" asked Naruto, jumping up from the doorway.

"Who?"

Naruto looked at Sakura, confused. Slowly, as if she were a small child, he explained, "You asked me about Sasuke. I told you where he was. You went to look for him."

"What - oh - no," Sakura lied. "I couldn't see him anywhere. And you - what're you doing?"

Naruto's eyebrows knitted at her uncharacteristic behavior. "I'm waiting here until Hinata gets up and tells me to come in. Like you said."

"Oh, well, right," Sakura gestured aimlessly. "She is better." She tried to summon her usual outrage. "You still can't go in."

"I won't," he agreed, but watched her go back into the house with some concern.

* * *

Iruka watched Tenten's and Naruto's latest bout. With a small grin, he noticed that Naruto had also borrowed something from Sasuke's style, picking up moves from even the briefest of bouts that they had had. But then there is something else. As he watched, Naruto was starting to incorporate some of Tenten's methods. Iruka grinned further. There was nothing safe about showing a sponge like Naruto some new way to carry water. Proof, Iruka felt, that his gamble was paying off about the boy's potential.

Despite this additional move, Tenten smoothly transitioned into yet another form. She had a lot of different weapons, different styles, different ways of adapting to her opponent. Iruka was constantly amazed that someone, anyone, could have such wide-ranging skill. She had devoted herself to martial arts - and he almost wished he could have bottled such memory and technique to take around with him. He sighed.

And then something very odd happened. Iruka's eyes narrowed, trying to pinpoint exactly what it was.

Tenten had blocked and attacked in a way that was so familiar - something so Hyuuga, he can't help but wonder. He hadn't taught any of them a move that advanced yet, had he? Had one of them been spying on the Hyuuga samurai? Iruka's head was full of possibilities - but it all halted when he saw _it._

Tenten spun in a circle with her arms and weapon extended, something so simple, so nimble, so perfect. It looked gentle, but Iruka knew that spin could only end in terrible pain for the recipient of the strike. It was to be Neji's signature move, had he ever completed it. Iruka had seen him working on it some years before he had died.

Iruka wanted to consult Kakashi on it, but wondered. Was it really what he thought it was? Or was it just a trick of the eye?

* * *

Hinata's recovery was faster than before, as if the previous months had given her strength to draw on. Within a few days of her regaining consciousness, she was allowed outside. Kurenai looked on them indulgently, as Naruto carried everything for her to her sunning spot on a bench in front of the house.

"Anything else I can do for you?" he asked.

"Would you read to me?"

He flushed, a hard red color to the tips of her ears. "Are you sure?"

"I can read to you and then you can read to me," she offered.

"Okay," he slowly agreed. Quickly, he added, "Nothing boring."

"I know the perfect story - it's in my room."

When Naruto went to retrieve the book, he saw a daunting stack of bound books on the chest. He picked up the first one with a bookmark in it, _Water Margin._

Hinata greeted him happily as he returned. She accepted the book and opened it up to where she had left a slip of paper. "Chapter 20 - "

"Chapter 20! How many chapters does this thing have?" he exclaimed.

"120." She tried to minimize the story's size. "It's only 6 volumes." At his visible dismay, she said, "It's historical fiction. There's politics, and foreign scenery."

"Hn." He was not warming up to this book at all.

She smiled, sweetly. "There's ghosts."

He shivered. "I'm scared of ghosts."

"You'll like it. It's got a lot of fights."

He looked at her, ready with excuses about his poor reading ability and his short attention span. But at the sight of hopeful eyes in her wan face, he couldn't bring himself to say them. He sighed and settled himself in for the duration, however long and painful. She re-opened the book and began to read. He just sat next to her, his manic energy evaporating in the presence of her tranquility and the pull of the story.

When he read to her, it was slow going, but she didn't care that he read so slowly. Draped in the safety of a light quilt, Hinata leaned against him. Worn out, she shut her eyes and listened with great happiness as his voice slowly worked through the text. When he paused for too long, his finger hovering over a particularly tricky set of characters, she opened her eyes and prompted him. Then he continued.

"Hey! This is right out of one of Jiraiya's stories - " he began with great enthusiasm, and then stopped. He heard a gentle buzzing at his shoulder, looked down, and realized it was Hinata snoring. She was dozing, leaning up against him, lulled to sleep by the sound of his voice and the warmth of the sun.

He looked down at her with great tenderness and awe. Sasuke had been right. She was much stronger than she appeared. He couldn't move and not dislodge her, so he sat, book in hand, trying to concentrate. But he was so very tired. The characters began to swim in front of his eyes. He yawned. Slowly, his eyes drooped shut. His head tipped, only stopping when the back of his head fell back far enough to reach the wall. The book dropped to his lap.

And the villagers went about their business, looking at the two sleeping figures with some amusement. One was sprawled over the bench, his feet carelessly sticking out towards the walking path, the other huddled up against his side - like two children having finally made it safely home after a long, long journey.

* * *

A messenger soon arrived from Castle Hyuuga. "It's a message from Lord Hiashi. He wants us back at the castle soon," Sasuke read the missive aloud. "Sorry, Hinata," he said, without a hint of apology in his voice. "I know you're still not feeling well, but we've been here too long as it is."

"But Sasuke," asked a confused Hinata, "what about the men that are still wounded? They won't be able to make the journey!"

"We can make the trip without them - if we travel quickly. Kakashi will stay with them. They'll join us as they recover," Sasuke said, indifferent. "We've got too many things to take care of back home to wait."

* * *

"Hinata?" Naruto called at the doorway. "Sakura said you wanted to see me."

In a flurry of pale yellow silk and feminine nerves, she came to the entry, bowed, and said, "Good morning! Please enter."

He slid out of his geta and climbed on the step to gain entry to the house. "Good morning."

"Please sit," she gestured to a position on one side of a low table, already set with crockery.

Starting to feel her nervousness, Naruto seated himself. He looked around, noticing the beginning of of the process of packing and sorting for the upcoming trip. Sasuke had mentioned it to him in passing that they were thinking about leaving soon.

Hinata knelt at the opposite side of the table, and with a series of small motions marred by an ever-so-slight trembling, prepared and poured him a cup of tea. "This isn't my normal tea," she remarked, chattily. "It's Tsunade's barley tea. My tea seems to have gone missing recently."

"It's very good," Naruto commented, and downed the liquid in the small, black-glazed cup in one swig. Then he dropped the empty stoneware onto the table. As she went to pour him another, he held up his hand.

"No?" she asked, frowning.

He put his hand on hers, and gently guided the pot back onto its holder. "No," he said, firmly. "Look - Hinata - this is very nice - but what's going on?"

She flushed and looked downward at her wringing hands. "I don't want to assume -" she said, nervously.

Naruto looked at her with sudden attention. "What?"

She bit her bottom lip. "This is so hard," she muttered.

She couldn't be telling him he wasn't wanted, could she? Naruto suddenly felt a little cold in his extremities. "Hinata, do you not want me to travel with you to your home?"

"Oh, no!" she gasped, surprised out of her nervousness. She took a deep breath and look at him squarely in the eye. "I want that very much. Do you want to come back to Hyuuga Castle with us?" Hinata asked. "Only if you want to. I - I don't want to make it an order. I want it to be your choice to come - or not come."

Naruto looked surprised that there was ever a question. "Yeah, I am going with you. I want to. I'm your samurai, right?"

She breathed in relief, her hand over her heart. She hadn't really been aware she had been holding her breath. "Excellent. I mean, of course, yes. Thank you."

"Besides," he said, "I promised to protect you - and how could I do that while I'm here and you're there?"

* * *

On her last full day in Konoha, Sakura voiced her concerns to Tsunade. "Mistress, I just don't know if Lady Hinata is ready to travel."

Tsunade frowned. A moment later, she shook her head. "I can't say Hinata can't travel. Not if that is what she and her family have decided. She arrived in much the same condition. And you say Sasuke has already decided to leave the wounded here." She looked at Sakura, and then smiled. She pulled the fan from her obi and presented to Sakura. "You have been a good student, and may very well surpass me. All that is lacking is experience. But if you should ever find yourself free to pursue further instruction, you would be more than welcome here."

* * *

And so, a few days following the arrival of letter, the Hyuuga retinue left Konoha, minus several members of their former traveling party. Kurenai had decided to stay to help Masako tend the temple. Jiraiya, when offered a place in the household, declined. He then laughed, a little self-consciously. "An old dog likes to return to a place he knows well."

Tsunade told Hinata, "Shizune told me about how you acted during the evacuation. I thank you. I have met a lot of leaders; many village heads, many emissaries of the Emperor and even some daimyo. Most are adequate, some are poor, but a very few are terrible, and fewer still that are good or great. And I know this: your town, your clan, may have sent away an invalid, but they will have returned to them a woman who has the makings of a great leader."

She gestured toward a large box brought forth by Inoichi Yamanaka. In it were many red cedar seedlings, ready for planting. "A gift from Konoha to Hyuuga. Nurtured here in Konoha, may they take root and grow strong in your home soil as a symbol of the friendship between our villages." To both Sasuke and Hinata, Tsunade said, "As we called on you, you may call on us and be assured of our assistance."

As they watched the oxcart move slowly into the shadows of the great forest, Jiraiya put his arm around Tsunade's shoulders and blurted, "Tsunade, maybe we were married in another life!"

After looking at him incredulously, Tsunade burst into laughter. Then she slipped out of his hold, muttering, "Don't let your dreams go to your oversized head, hydrangea."

* * *

Without Jiraiya and Kurenai and the rest of the missing samurai, something about the journey seemed wrong, felt unbalanced. Despite the continued clement weather and the sizable distance they covered each day, there was an awareness that things had changed since the last time they had all traveled together. Karin seemed unusually happy. Sakura didn't even bother with the rivalry she had previously had with Karin, and seemed oddly restrained in her conversations with Sasuke. Naruto was also particularly prickly about Sasuke. Hinata was more tired than ever, even though her spirits were high, and Naruto found excuses to be near her whenever they stopped. Sasuke's stoic demeanor had settled into an unusual testiness with everyone, including Karin.

The morning of their last day on the road, Karin absent-mindedly folded Hinata's kosode closed. Sakura noticed the error right away, rushing directly toward Hinata. "Karin!"

"What!" replied Karin, defensive.

"You've folded it right over left - what's the matter with you? You have definitely been in service too long for a mistake like that!" Sakura scolded. "Such bad luck," she tsked as she re-tied Hinata's clothes, tightening the obi, and then tucking in a fan for good measure.

Karin covered her face with her hands, miserable. She apologized, "I'm sorry, Lady Hinata."

"It's nothing," Hinata said, kindly. She shook her head and sighed. "Everything seems off-balance this trip."

After their travel party was on the road for some length that day - the oxcart stopped with a shuddering groan. The drover knelt down and examined the the equipage thoroughly. After some time, he reported that one of the great wheels had cracked all the way through to the axle. To go any further would risk the integrity of the body.

Sasuke ordered, "Naruto, go ahead with Sakura and the rest of the men. Make sure the Castle is aware we're so close. Send someone back so they can fix the wheel."

Naruto frowned in concern, addressing Hinata, "Are you sure? It'll just be Karin and Sasuke with you."

Hinata nodded. "I will be fine. After all, we're practically within sight of the castle right now. We won't be waiting long." She smiled in anticipation. "Wait till you see it. It's beautiful."

* * *

"It's just over the next few ridges," Sakura said, pleased to finally return and put the trip and its unpleasant revelations behind her.

As they walked the final leg of the journey, Sakura grew increasingly uneasy. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. They began the approach up the heavily traveled road to the large wooden gates of the castle village. Nothing seemed especially unusual, but she couldn't see the amount of bustle that a return of the noble inhabitants would engender. She ran ahead to a small house at the side of the gate, calling out.

The door opened to reveal a small man, his back hunched with time, his lined face deeply surprised by Sakura's appearance.

"Why isn't the castle ready?" she asked, puzzled. "Lady Hinata and Lord Sasuke are just up the road. They'll be arriving shortly."

"Miss Sakura," he bowed deeply, multiple times. "There hasn't been any message sent here about your return - if there had been one, I'm sure we would have been ready - I'll get someone right away to start the fires! Oh dear, what shall we do? Oh dear -"

"We didn't send a message - we received a message that we had to return - " she gasped, her eyes widening with a fearful realization. She grabbed Naruto's arm in a painfully tight grip. "Naruto - you've got to go back and get Lady Hinata! Hurry!" she screamed. "Hurry!"

* * *

Naruto and Sakura and the rest of the retainers disappeared past the rise of the hill. The oxcart and its occupants sat still.

The drover spoke to Sasuke confidentially. "It's really confusing how this happened, my lord," he apologized, his pleasantly ugly face twisting in concern. "The wheels were fine when I inspected them yesterday." He pointed out the breaks painstakingly. "It's as if something came and hacked them up with an ax overnight." He laughed nervously.

Sasuke chuckled too. "It's just ridiculous," he agreed.

At the relieved looked of the driver, Sasuke reached out and uncharacteristically slapped the driver's shoulder, a small smile adorning his face.

"These things to happen. It's nothing." Swiftly, Sasuke's other hand rose up clutching his short sword and stabbed the drover through the neck.

* * *

"What do you think is going on?" Hinata asked Karin. She was starting to feel a bit restless, sitting in the oxcart.

"I don't know," Karin answered. She stepped out, closing the door carefully behind her. She nearly shrieked when Sasuke grabbed her arm, pulling her towards the woods along the side of the road.

"What's taking so long -?" her words trailed off as she caught the murderous intent in Sasuke's expression. "No! Sasuke, why?"

"Where I'm going, you'll be nothing but a burden."

She raised her hands as she stumbled forward, hoping against hope for a reprieve. "What about what we were going to do together? Seek revenge for the Uchihas? Take over the castle?"

"Things have changed," he said.

"But - what about me?"

"You always were a poor tool," Sasuke said, icily. "You never do what I ask, you have no patience for the larger plan." He took a few steps towards her.

"What - what about us?" Karin implored, her voice rising.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Swiftly, calmly, Sasuke ran his shoto through Karin's heart.

* * *

Hinata, after waiting for Karin, finally opened the oxcart window. Her eyes roved over the terrain, when she caught sight of an odd splash of color at the side of the road. As she focused on the shape, she gasped. It was the head and torso of the drover, oddly angled up against a tree, blood having run in huge quantities down his front. Panicked, she made to flee, only to find Sasuke at the door.

As he lifted his short sword against her, there was an dream-like inevitability about it. She was not fightened because she feared death; she had faced death often enough to know what most likely lay on the other side. She was frightened because life had begun to have so much promise and she did not want to let that go.

Desperate, Hinata asked, "Why, Sasuke? Why are you doing this?"

"You don't remember?" he asked, disbelieving.

Hinata shook her head.

"You were there, and it was nothing to you. The day your mother betrayed my mother, her sister, to the Emperor, because of orders from your grandfather. That day was the end of my life, the destruction of my whole family, the end of all the bonds that meant anything to me. Because of that day, I realized I had to kill you and the rest of your family so your grandfather would know what it would be like to watch your whole world be destroyed."

"That can't be!" Shivering with fear and a rising panic, Hinata wrapped her arms around herself. The fan inside her obi bumped against her arm. She grabbed it for the small comfort it gave her.

Sasuke watched the motion of her hands with condescending amusement. "Hinata, Little Sister, just give up."

"I can't." She looked around for anything - anything at all - that might serve to halt him just a bit longer. "I promised to try to protect myself."

Sasuke laughed. "Why? Who would make you promise something so ridiculous? You, who have been so close to death?"

"Naruto."

The laugh ended abruptly. "Naruto," Sasuke spat. "You listening to a nothing like him. It's almost funny, if it wasn't so pathetic." He raised his sword, and swiftly swung it down.

Without rational thought, Hinata brought up the fan to parry. Instead of the harsh cracking of delicate wooden ribs, there was only the ringing sound of metal on metal, and then the tearing of fabric as the fan held firm, deflecting Sasuke's wakizashi.

"What?" Sasuke looked at Hinata with almost comic surprise. The silk cover slid off the fan, revealing the glint of polished metal, incised with the mark of Konoha's finest apprentice blacksmith.

"Tessen. That's a good surprise, Little Sister." Sasuke smiled. "I'm almost sorry that isn't enough."

Hinata grasped fan in one hand, breathing heavily, shaking. She was going to die soon, she knew, but she would make it as difficult for Sasuke as she could. She had promised. _Mother,_ she pleaded, _help me be brave._

Sasuke slashed again, and Hinata felt her arm yanked upward and out, and that whole side of her body shudder as steel met steel in a block. The ringing of metal sounded dulled and hollow, then the sword cracked brittlely across the blade, snapping off half-way down. Sasuke twisted the remains of the sword, flipping it outward, causing Hinata to drop the fan. He cast the broken blade aside. He wasn't worried. In the cramped quarters of the oxcart, there wasn't anywhere to escape.

He grabbed her throat with both hands, pressing her backward into a seated position. He leaned in closely. Hinata could smell his hair and the blood on his clothes, feel the rise and fall of his breathing. "Good-bye, Little Sister. Sweet dreams." Then he began to squeeze his hands into fists. As she gasped futilely, her hands scrabbled at his, nails digging into the skin.

Sasuke smiled, as handsome as a wild thing uncaged.

Her vision flickered. _Naruto - I'm sorry._ Life had seemed so precious in Konoha. Who could have imagined it would turn out like this?

A sharp thud rocked the cart. The door flung open.

"Hinata!" Then an enraged cry, "Sasuke!"

Sasuke turned, his hold loosening about her neck. Hinata gasped as the sweetest air she had ever breathed rushed into her lungs.

A yellow-haired fury dragged Sasuke off the cart. Hinata lurched forward unevenly, dropping to the ground outside the cart. She lifted her head to see Sasuke and Naruto circling each other, swords in both their hands.

"Are you sorry you saved my life?" Sasuke taunted Naruto.

"No," Naruto said. "I should be. But I wanted to show you that even a nothing like me can save a life. And then I thought about what Hinata would have felt had her brother died - what would have happened if I had a brother who I could save - and I could not allow you to die."

Sasuke's face was red, and he raised the steel blade, almost snarling in outrage. "Like anyone would ever choose be your brother! Nobody gets to choose!"

"You can choose your actions, no matter what gets handed to you. You can make your own destiny," declared Naruto.

"You think you can talk to me about fate? About choice? Nobody can!" With an angry howl, Sasuke pulled away from Naruto and ran off into the woods.

* * *

"Hinata!" Naruto ran to Hinata and crouched down beside her, anxious. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she replied. "I'm okay."

Naruto looked at her, checking for any obvious injury. Relieved and grateful she seemed well, Naruto brought Hinata into his arms.

She lay, breathing, her throat aching, eyes closed, feeling the life returning to her own body. She opened her eyes, and smiled weakly up into his worried face. "I tried, Naruto. I did try to protect myself."

"I'm glad I made it in time," he said, with an answering smile. "You're really brave. I don't think I could have fought off Sasuke with just a tessen."

They both looked at the space where Sasuke disappeared into the trees. _What happened to you?_

Naruto checked the sun's low position on the horizon. "Okay, we've got to get you back to the castle." He turned, squatted, and presented his back to her. "Get on."

"What?"

"Get on. I'll carry you. It's not far."

"I can wait - "

Naruto sighed. "I can't leave you here alone. It's dangerous, and it'll get dark soon. Do you want to get back into the oxcart and see if someone else comes along?"

Silent, and saddened and horrified, she glanced at the wreck and shuddered. She did not want to go back in there.

"C'mon, Hinata. You're still sick. Besides, I can't show my face to Sakura without you. She'd kill me." He turned away from her again, jerking his thumb towards his back. "Get on."

She put her hands on his muscular shoulders and climbed onto his broad back, tentatively. She was not convinced this was the way to go back home. Naruto grabbed each of her thighs, hoisted her up, bounced once to settle her to a more comfortable place, causing her to clutch his neck tightly. He shifted his shoulders and they set off. "Eh, just wait till they see you back at the castle!"

Naruto pretended not to hear Hinata's softly spoken, "How can I go home if I can't save my own brother?" And if Naruto felt the dampness of tears on his neck, he said nothing.

* * *

Once Hinata returned, there was a great impetus to finish construction of the castle, as if fresh blood had infused the whole endeavor. New faces appeared, some freshly hired, some arriving from the household in the capitol. With the old guard from the capitol came news. Rumors of how Jugo and Suigetsu, retainers of long standing, were abruptly ejected, found to be harboring treasonous letters and contacts.

In the village, whispers about how the castle was haunted began again. There were lights, at odd times of the night. Sometimes, people said, you could trace the journey the spirits made through the old part of the castle. But always, always, the light returned to the same spot, the old bedroom of the deceased Lady Hyuuga.

Like a maddened dog on a leash, stories of Sasuke's fury came circling about the castle, cutting off commerce and social trade between their neighbors. In response, a quintet of young men arrived from Konoha; one carrying a bundle on his back that buzzed angrily, and the second bringing with him a pack of enormous dogs, the third carrying only his enormous eyebrows and an even bigger staff, and the other two seemed like something out of a story, one being so sarcastic and lanky, the other so large and good-natured.

* * *

NEW YEAR'S DAY

Hyuuga Castle village held an annual celebration at the New Year, consisting of a fair and a festival. As part of the festivities, the castle was open to the public without constraint this one night of the year. He couldn't afford to miss this opportunity.

As he walked into the open doors, he was aware of all the effort that had been made to prepare it for this one night - all the cleaning, the decorating, the purification, all in honor of the gods of the new year.

Silently, Sasuke crept through the corridors he knew so well. Until he approached new stone. He paused, his dark eyes taking in the new space opened in front of him. It was so much in the pattern of the old, he wondered about the origins. Who could have been so intimately acquainted with the old castle that the new segment would be so seamlessly added?

He stepped forward, a strange new pattern in his walking emerging. Wooden floors normally creaked and groaned - it was sound a person gets used to, except something was very different about these creaks and groans. Experimentally, he stepped sideways, then backwards, and forwards yet again. He realized that there were special spots where distinctive sounds would be made and spots where no sounds would be made, thereby creating a complicated pattern of squeaks and nulls which could give the precise location of the walker on the floor, maybe multiple walkers. Nightingale floors - but done so cleverly, spread out in a complicated pattern only a genius of an architect could have planned for, creating a virtual forest of bird calls. All of this could only point to Neji and the building plans he had guarded so jealously - but how?

"Sasuke!" Hinata appeared at the door of the room, her dark hair covered with a uchikage shot with silver, a lantern in her trembling hand reflecting light up to clearly show her pale face. Then she vanished behind a corner.

Swiftly, Sasuke went the door, and looked around. In the faint light of moon, a woman's shadow appeared at the end of the corridor, drawing him forward through the castle. She walked swiftly, breaking into a slow run. Hinata. He knew that running pattern surely as he knew his own. He drew his sword. It was too late for him to escape, too late to run away. He had been drawn in as surely as a animal at the end of a tether. But he intended to make them pay for their trap.

Sasuke dashed forward, caring nothing about the sound of the floors now. He knew where they were headed. The old bedroom of their mother. How fitting. He chased her into the room, a smile of anticipation on his lips as he caught up with her. "Little Sister!" She began to turn to face him, the silver strands in the cloth glimmering in the dim light. He raised his sword, and drew it down, only to have it clash with the clanging of steel against steel.

Puzzled, he drew back. The moon burst out from behind the clouds, filling the room with a brilliant pattern of white light across the walls and floors.

With a dazzling smile, Naruto grinned at Sasuke, throwing the uchikage that covered his head onto the floor. "Sasuke, you still haven't worked on your problem. You have yet to leave room for the unexpected."

Sasuke could only stare in astonishment at sudden Naruto's appearance, and then at his fine dress, in a heavy brocade kosode with large Hyuuga kamon stamped along the hem. Sasuke almost laughed as the joke struck him. "Tell me one thing. Where - where did you get the plans? I didn't see them when I - "

"When you killed Neji?"

Sasuke straightened, accepting responsibility. "Yes."

This was the first time Naruto had seen Sasuke clearly, and it was his turn to be surprised. Sasuke looked terrible; he was much thinner, his clothing worn and dirty, signs of a life lived roughly. "You didn't know, none of us knew that Neji had a wife. She gave the plans to Hinata - Neji's last gift to the family before his planned departure to China." Naruto aggressively struck, but missed. "Why, Sasuke?"

"It's simple. I am getting revenge for Itachi, for my mother, for every Uchiha ever betrayed by a Hyuuga, ever murdered at the command of the Emperor. All the stories about the Uchihas betraying the Emperor are wrong. It was the Emperor who betrayed them, who betrayed us - and it was the Hyuugas who did the dirty work."

Sasuke charged towards him. Sasuke and Naruto met in the center of the empty room, clashing their swords over and over, feinting, ducking, slashing.

"It was Hinata's grandfather that set it all in motion. The same man who contracted the marriage of Hinata's mother to the Hyuugas - he was the same man that wrote the order to destroy the family of her sister, my mother. They were sisters, family, and still he went ahead with the command to destroy the Uchihas. He destroyed my family for political gain. "

Hinata's voice, soft, but carrying easily through the still night, said, "You always had a choice, Sasuke, to let go of the past, embrace your present - "

"That choice was made before I was born, Little Sister. You ought to know. Very few of us have the freedom to pick and choose what they do, where they go, and who they love. I thought I could give up my vengeance. Then I met someone who made me realize this is all I truly own in this world. He confirmed everything my mother and brother had ever told me about the betrayal of the Emperor and the Hyuuga."

"What about their adopting you?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, you are so dumb. If family bonds mean so little to the Hyuuga, why should they mean anything to me? It was as careless as picking up a stray animal, or - picking you."

"You can just forget the revenge and leave and never return," Naruto said. "It's not too late, Sasuke."

Sasuke laughed. "It was too late from the moment my mother entered this household. If you don't kill me now, it will be Hinata who dies," he tilted his head meaningfully in the direction of her voice, eyes never leaving Naruto. "And then her sister and her father and then, last of all, her grandfather. Every single Hyuuga will fall at my sword." Sasuke smiled, challengingly. "Come on, Naruto. Kill me and become a hero." The look became intent as Naruto paused.

"Sasuke - " Naruto tried again.

"Or die at my hand and become another one of my victims!" Sasuke hissed, and leaped forward.

In response, Naruto drew his sword across the air, deceptively gently, driving Sasuke backwards, and onto the window sill. "I can't let you hurt any of my precious people...even if I have to kill you!" Then he delivered the final, vicious strike at the end of the spin. Sasuke, eyes wide with surprise, unusually, forgot where he was, jumped backwards, and with a confused look, dropped out of sight.

"SASUKE!" screamed Naruto.

* * *

As he fell, Sasuke watched the moon and the stars light the clear winter sky. One last memory came to him.

Dying, Lady Hyuuga had called him by her bedside, asking him to bring her some tea. She had sent her retainers away, wanting to be with him alone. She asked him to help her sit up, and then sat in silence while he supported her, bringing the cup up to her lips. Never very large, now, she seemed to weigh no more than a bird, so wasted was her body. He watched closely as each swallow disappeared.

"Why? Why did you keep me? Why could you not me let go?" he desperately wanted to know.

Her expression infinitely sad, she said, "I could not let your life be wasted. For my sister. I had to try to save you, no matter the cost to me."

She finished her drink. "Thank you for the tea," she whispered, her voice fading from the exertion. He eased her back down onto the bed. She fell into a stupor that day and died later that week.

* * *

Hinata and Naruto heard the dull thud of a body hitting the earth below.

Naruto rushed over to the window, Hinata just a step behind. Naruto thrust a lantern out of the opening, but once the light touched Sasuke's body, Naruto pulled back, bringing Hinata with him. "It's better you don't see," Naruto said, softly.

"Is he - ?" Hinata's large grey eyes begged for a different answer.

Soberly, his face dark, Naruto nodded. "Come," he urged her, "let's leave this room." Tenderly, he drew her uchikage over her shoulders and led her away.

By the faint light of the dawn, Sasuke's broken body could be seen at the bottom of the unfinished moat, like a bird thrown down in a violent storm.

* * *

NEARLY 15 YEARS AGO

The foundation of Hyuuga castle had only just begun being excavated, and piles of earth and rough-hewn stone lay about the ground.

Soldiers in imperial insignia stood at the door of the large wooden house, asking to see Lady Hyuuga. Before appearing, she had taken their measure - they were of low rank, dusty, travel-worn. The Emperor was chasing down the faintest of trails and had not bothered to send his crack troops. Perhaps she could work this to her advantage.

Lady Hyuuga appeared before them, cool, pale, composed, with the right amount of concern for their welfare. Inwardly, she shivered in fear and distress. She had been afraid of this meeting since the day her half-sister, disguised as a servant, had shown up at her door, heavily pregnant with an additional child in tow.

Lady Hyuuga had not hesitated to take her sister in, but she worried. The reach of the Emperor was long, and the memories of his advisors were longer, even in the case of the most minor of branches of a family that had actively plotted against him. It was ironic, really. Even though she had married into the main house of the Hyuuga clan, it was her sister who had had initially been thought to have made the better match by marrying into a branch family of the Uchiha. Now, through some political manuvering and rashness on all sides, it was all turned upside down. But she didn't even pretend to understand it.

Uncomfortable facing the lady of the house, the soldiers nervously asked about the location of some Uchiha relatives. Children playing to the side of the house in the garden looked up at the name.

"Uchiha?" asked the youngest boy.

The oldest ran towards the soldiers. He called out his name, fiercely proud, telling them he was Itachi Uchiha and he was 8 years old and he would bring honor to the Uchiha name through revenge.

Another woman, in modest dress, ran after Itachi, screaming for him to be silent, and he called back, "Why, Mama?"

The soldiers grabbed Itachi and Lady Uchiha, and roughly shook them both into silence for their insolence. The soldiers knew there would be no consequence for their actions - this last Uchiha wife and son had long ago lost anyone capable of avenging their dishonor.

The two other children, a small girl and a second, very young boy ran bawling towards the skirts of Lady Hyuuga, who gathered them up like her very own chicks.

The soldiers again asked about Uchiha relatives visiting, less diffidently this time.

Lady Hyuuga, coldly, haughtily, replied that she knew of none.

Itachi looked impatiently at the little boy. "Sasuke! Come on!"

The soldiers waited. There was no record of any more Uchiha males, but that didn't mean a little patience couldn't make someone start talking.

Itachi called again, stamping his feet impatiently. "Sasuke! You crybaby! Coward! Come on!"

"Shut up!" A soldier grabbed Itachi, and slapped him viciously across the face, an enormous red-eyed raven tattooed on his beefy lower arm. "You're nobody now!"

Stunned, Itachi blinked, eyes tearing from the force of the blow. Then, mulishly, he called, "Sasuke!" The soldier raised his hand again, the red-eyed raven hanging in the air. Itachi looked up at the soldier, his eyes rebellious.

The sisters looked at each other; one frightened, the other resolute. No one would know they were related; they had no looks in common, save one. Eyes as black as a moonless night.

Lady Hyuuga said, "You can't do that here. Take it elsewhere." Then, with her arms around the children, Lady Hyuuga said, "This is Sasuke, and Hinata, and they belong to me." She stared the soldiers down, her dark eyes hard and flinty, daring the soldiers to contradict her. They did not.

* * *

The sound of the Gion Shōja bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the color of the sāla flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline. The proud do not endure, they are like a dream on a spring night; the mighty fall at last, they are as dust before the wind.

\- Chapter 1.1, Helen Craig McCullough's translation of the Tale of the Heike

* * *

EPILOGUE

"Ah," Iruka said to himself, dragging an enormous scroll out of the storage bins. "I dreamed I remembered where I found it."

He rolled it opened, and the ends spilled out towards the far walls of the large room. It was a scroll of old sword techniques - he had looked through it years ago, trying to find some new techniques.

Under Iruka's fingers were series of pictures, most of them simple human schematics illustrating hand and foot movements. But one panel contained a simple watercolor of three men: one with long black hair and sad grey-white eyes who wore a large jade jewel around his neck; another short black hair with piercing red eyes and held a sword strapped to his side; and the last had spiky yellow hair and calm blue eyes and cradled a small mirror in his arms.

A short poem was inked on top of the picture. "Blood, Fire, and Rain. Heaven's own elemental regalia." Next to the poem was a series of family insignia - the blood-drop of the Hyuuga, the fan of the Uchiha, and the cloud of the Namikaze. There was a old note scrawled in faded ink: Namikaze was to marry the daughter of an ancient kingdom, and all his descendents were heir to a tremendous fortune. Her insignia was that of a swirl, and their future emblem would be that of a cloud's outline with a whirlpool in the center.

Iruka sighed. Sasuke Uchiha. It was a sad thing - the events surrounding that year that he had died. Iruka was not privy to the planning behind the final trap, but he was not surprised at its outcome. After all, he had taught both of the fighters and knew that the one with the most to lose, the one protecting his precious people, would fight the hardest.

The whole family had been in mourning for a while, but it seemed as if Sasuke had been lost to the family for some time. When auditing the family finances, it turned out that they had been perfectly maintained, save for a few notations that were made to a local temple. Upon questioning the head monk, it turned out that the donations were made in the hopes of including a few Uchiha names to their prayers, and had been started during Lady Hyuuga's lifetime. No one spoke of such things very much anymore. As Iruka's own mother had once said, "Least said, soonest mended."

Iruka carefully rolled the scroll up, thinking to place it somewhere he would remember it. There was plenty of time to share this with his lord Naruto. He grinned to himself. Hadn't he guessed the potential of that scruffy, coarse boy all those years ago? But who would have dreamed that ruffian would become Lord of Hyuuga Castle? Other than Naruto, of course. Not only did he marry Lady Hinata (and by appearances, it was one of the happiest marriages Iruka had ever witnessed) - but he was considered a great hero, and became the pride of the clan and beloved of the villagers, especially the children.

Their wedding day was one of the greatest joys Iruka had ever the opportunity to share in. Lady Hinata was radiant in a purple kosode, and Naruto was no less happy in an orange and black robe. A magnificent feast was had, many dignitaries, as well as every body within the village was invited. It was terribly romantic. Iruka knew that Kakashi himself had to fend off multiple advances from many a matchmaking mama that one day alone. It was said that the ghosts of the castle were finally laid to rest that day, as no one ever saw the mysterious lights again.

He looked at the scroll regretfully, but he must go. There was plenty to do today. He needed to prepare for visitors from Konoha. Jiraiya, Tsunade, TenTen, Rock Lee, Shikamaru, Chouji, and of course, Haruki. Hinata's and Naruto's children adored their cousin Haruki. Big Brother they called him.

Well, Iruka might be mistaken, but he thought there was a great deal of potential in that one also.

As he walked outside, he noticed that the sky overhead was a cloudless blue. A perfect day indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tsutsudori - Oriental Cuckoo or Horsfields Cuckoo. An obligate brood parasite. This species can only reproduce by laying its eggs in another bird's nest, leaving that bird to parent the future hatchling. The cuckoo hatchling will outcompete its foster siblings - either by demanding greater and greater portions of parental attention until the native hatchling starves or committing outright siblicide (e.g. pushing other eggs or hatchlings out of the nest, or directly killing them). (To paraphrase Neil Gaiman in his cuckoo story - "It's their nature.") Theories abound as to why the foster parent/bird allows this behavior, but the reasons remain unknown.
> 
> I based Hinata's symptoms on arsenic poisoning - arsenic poison was known in Korea and well-documented (wikipedia) during this time. Arsenic poisoning can easily be confused for a number of other ailments, especially those affecting the gastrointestinal tract - e.g. cholera, giardia, dysentery, legionellosis, etc. (courses on drinking water safety)
> 
>  _Water_ _Margin_ , 14th century Chinese action/kung fu epic, also known as _Outlaws of the Marsh._ Japanese translations date back to at least 1757, when the first volume of an early _Suikoden_ ( _Water Margin_ in Japanese) was printed. (wikipedia) (okay, so I'm pushing the date of earliest translation. Sorry - but I imagine Naruto really enjoying some version of this.)
> 
> Kosodes are always wrapped left over right. Right over left is for the dead.
> 
> Nightingale floors, or uguisubari, were floors designed to make a chirping sound when walked upon. Dry boards naturally creak under pressure, but these floors were designed so that the flooring nails rubbed against a jacket or clamp, causing chirping noises. The squeaking floors were used as a security device, assuring that none could sneak through the corridors undetected. The "nightingale" is the Japanese Bush Warbler, _uguisu_.
> 
> The Imperial Regalia of Japan, (aka the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan), consist of the sword Kusanagi, the mirror Yata no Kagami , and the jewel Yasakani no Magatama. The regalia represent the three primary virtues: valor (the sword), wisdom (the mirror), and benevolence (the jewel) and are used during the ceremony of imperial ascension. None of the treasures have been seen by the public in centuries, the sword has been rumored to have been lost during the Heike period. The regalia can also be interpreted as the mirror representing the sun; the jewel, the moon; and the sword, the stars. (wikipedia, various entries)
> 
> This is my shounen-type AU take on Sasuke as related to the larger arc of the Naruto story - his need for revenge, why he behaves the way he does, how he affects the people around him.
> 
> I kept to the names of Lady Hyuuga and Lady Uchiha as a relic of the times. Many women seemed to be solely recorded as "daughter of" and "wife of." Also, illegitimacy didn't seem to be an issue for society - as long as the father acknowledged the child, especially among the more prominent. (Formal marriage didn't seem required.)
> 
> Critiques, questions and comments on any part of the story are appreciated.


End file.
